The Best Parts of My Week - 6/23/14-6/26/14

Hi everyone,
     The last week of school is always exciting!  At this time of year I like to say:  "Another day, another event!"  
.....We began the week with a "Victory Lap".  As part of our Healthy Highway program, we celebrate our year-long journey with a run/walk around our school, a reminder of all that we learned, and a special treat!  Thank you to our PTA for sponsoring the treats!

.....I began the day Tuesday with our 5th Grade Moving Up ceremony.  What a privilege it is to be a part of the education of our students for all these years and to be able to see how they have grown and learned!  It was a proud moment for the families for sure, but also for all of us as teachers.  There were few dry eyes when the students sang their Moving Up Day song........

.....The last day of school is always special.  I was greeting the students as they arrived and while most were happy that it was the last day of school some of the students commented that they were sad.  I responded that being sad could be a good thing because it means that you like school and do not want to be away from it!  They agreed!  We had a huge celebration with music, dancing, ribbon streamers, bubbles, and many hugs and good-byes!  Admittedly I was a little sad myself saying goodbye to retiring colleagues and students moving on to middle school.

     As I write this last post of this school year I am reminded of the fact that I have finished 31 school years at North Park and while that seems impossible, it has passed by in a heartbeat!  It is time to unwind, refresh, regroup, and relax.  The end of the year is always a flurry of paperwork, inventory, cleaning, and filing but I always feel fortunate, not only to have a job that I truly love, but to be able to finish each year as an accomplishment and begin anew each fall.  Thank you for reading!  Have a great summer and I look forward to beginning again in September!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 6/16/14--6/20/14

Hi everyone,
     This was Field Day Week!  The week began with Field Day for grades 3 and 4 and continued on Tuesday with K-2 Field Day in the morning, grade 5 Field Day in the afternoon, and the school barbecue day in between!  !  It was intense, amazing, and fun!

…..We are so fortunate to have many, many parent and teacher volunteers to help with our Field Days.  I can’t run Field Days without them and I always know that I can count on them to make our Field Days special. This year there were quite a few parent volunteers who were former students of mine!  What a privilege it is to have been teaching long enough to see that happen!  I enjoyed talking and reminiscing with them!

…..Field Days are the highlight of our school year for just about everyone.  In fact, in September, many students want to know when Field Days will be!  All of our students worked together, exercised, and had fun this year!  I was so proud of our students and as they thanked me for a great time I responded that all of the hard work that goes in to planning Field Days is worth it when I see students playing safe, playing fair, and enjoying it! Click on Field Day 2014 for pictures!

…..One of our parents owns a local ice cream/Italian ice store and they were kind enough to come to each Field Day with treats for all!  It was a surprise for our students and they were so excited when they found out!  I reminded each student group to show their “attitude of gratitude” by using their manners and good behavior.  I was not surprised to hear please and thank you all around!

….As a first grade class came to PE this week I was presented with a book that they had written in class about their favorite Field Day station!  It was wonderful and beautifully illustrated and I enjoyed reading each and every entry!  This kind of connection between the classroom and special areas is why North Park is so special!

…..After our Field Days concluded, the week continued with PE classes and special school events.  One of my kindergarten students told me that he remembered an activity that we did in the beginning of the year involving dice and step counts.  He said he had a good memory and he certainly does!

…..I have the pleasure of co-teaching one class with a colleague who is a young professional just beginning his career.  He taught our classes how to do the Hamster Dance this week and the students loved it!  I decided to try it with my other primary classes and they loved it too!  I was struck by the fact that it is not only the young who learn from the experienced, but the opposite is true as well!

…..Physical Eddie has been having some wonderful adventures to finish out the school year.  This week I was overjoyed at the journal entries by a second grade class!  They wrote about healthy choices, exercising, eating nutritious food, and feeding their brains with knowledge!  The pictures were priceless!  Visit Physical Eddie's blog to see more of his adventures!

…..The week ended with a beautiful Friday afternoon outside with my primary classes.  One of my kindergarten students was working hard to move along an overhead ladder on the playground.  While I saw him struggling, I knew that this was something that he had to work on to get better and he did not give up and kept trying.  Another kindergarten student who was very adept at crossing from one side to the other using the ladder came over to the struggling student and started giving him advice.  I watched this interaction for a few minutes with a smile on my face.  After a few minutes, the student who was helping came to me with a smile on his face and said:  “I’m teaching him to climb across!”  He was so proud!  I asked him if it felt good to help someone else by teaching and he said yes with a big smile!  I agreed!  

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

See you next week! 

The Best Parts of My Week - 6/9/14--6/13/14

Hi everyone,
     A week of field trips, postponed field days, rain, rain, and more rain!  Summer is coming fast!

.....The beginning of the week brought the start of a bowling unit.  I am fortunate to be able to create six lanes and students love to hear the pins get knocked down!  One of my kindergarten students walked in and said:  "Hey, this looks like a bowling alley!"  I was glad because that's the look I was going for!

.....One of my primary students shared that she was excited not only to bowl in school, but also after school!

.....I was preparing for the day when the morning announcements began and then the school began to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  I stopped to say the pledge and was pleased when a student walking by the gymnasium on his way back to class stopped as well to recite the pledge with me!

.....One of my fourth grade classes has been using our PE Packs to Go program for the past week and a half.  Students sign out a pack with a pedometer, jump rope, and log card.  The idea is to increase physical activity time outside of school time.  This program is always popular and the students are excited when it is their turn to use the pack.  This class was particularly enthusiastic about using the packs and logged 186,139 steps as a class!  One of the students said that the program helped her to learn how to jump rope better!

.....I was astounded when one of my kindergarten students announced that he had bowled three strikes in a row and that was called a "Turkey"!  Amazing!

.....Another student announced:  "I got my first strike in my whole entire world!"  That made me smile!

.....One of our field days was postponed this week due to rain.  I was so proud of the students!  I knew that they were disappointed (so was I) but they were willing to be patient and trusted that it would happen another day!

.....Getting ready for Field Days is always a tremendous amount of work.  I finished the week ready for Field Days to begin!  Monday is the first one!  Field Days are sure to be a part of "The Best Parts of My Week" next week!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

See you next week!

The Best Parts of My Week - 6/2/14--6/6/14

Hi everyone,
     The year is coming to an end in a few weeks but the excitement continues!

.....Operation Healthy North Park wrapped up and after a final count of the Coop Cars I was excited to learn that we beat last year's record!  This year we collected 3,969 Coop Cars which equals at least 79,380 minutes of exercise during the month of May!

.....I always ask my students to show a friend that their pedometer has been reset to O in order to insure an accurate step count.  This week one of my students came to me to show me that the pedometer had been reset and said:  "You're my friend!"

.....This week I began to teach my primary students some dances.  I was very happy to hear their reaction to the idea of dance during PE.  One of my students said:  "Dance - YAY!"

.....Many students often share their accomplishments with me after ball games, dance recitals, and other events in their lives.  This week one of my colleagues shared that she had finished a half marathon this past weekend!  I am in awe of that accomplishment and was happy to share a high five to congratulate her!

.....Fitness Frankie returned home from Spain this week.  Yes, I said Spain!  He traveled with a Team USA athlete to the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain!  How cool is that??  Check out his blog for pictures!

.....I have the honor to be throwing out the first pitch at the Hudson Valley Renegades baseball game in a few weeks.  One of my students made it a point to let me know that she will be there to cheer me on!

.....A primary warm-up this week was called "Give 5".  Students move around our rainbow track and take turns giving away their own bean bags to groups that need them.  As I was explaining that this activity was not about which group got the most bean bags and that it was about each group having enough, one of my first graders said that it was like making sure that everyone had enough food so that no one was starving!  What a great perspective for a seven year old!

.....In my mailbox this week was a book created by a kindergarten class.  After our Project ACES event, each student wrote about the exercise that they liked to do and drew a picture of themselves doing it.  The teachers put it together in a book for me!  I went down to the class to thank them and we decided that it should travel in Fitness Frankie's backpack so that it could be shared!

.....On Friday we were able to hold a school-wide Fitness Friday event using our PA system and my Ipod.  It was great fun and great to exercise as a school even though we were all in our own classrooms and spaces.  It was a great way to start the day and end the week!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

See you next week!

The Best Parts of My Week - 5/26/14--5/30/14

Hi everyone,
     It was a great week!  There were so many parts of the week that were terrific from beginning to end!

.....I love technology and have used pedometers in my program as well as personally for years.  In January I decided to switch from a traditional pedometer to a Fit Bit device.  I began this week with a notification that I had earned the 500 mile lifetime badge!

.....Students in the primary grades have been learning about sports that use striking skills.  We have been playing a game I call Triangle Ball during which students hit a ball off of a tee and run some bases.  A kindergarten student asked me to watch him hit.  I did and he hit the ball really far!  I told him how great it was and he said that he used to be a professional baseball player!  That made me smile!

.....As we were beginning a lesson outside with a primary group one of my students said:  "You are my favorite PE teacher!"  I thanked her and said that we had missed her when she was absent recently.  She responded:  "I missed you too!"

.....One of our fifth grade students read about Cardio Cal's adventure over the announcements this week.  She did a great job and he had a great adventure!

.....As I took out my Ipad to use with a class one of the students commented "Ipad - Yay!".  I agree!

.....Occasionally students share their achievements with me but this week one of my colleagues shared her achievement with me regarding a personal best.  It is so great to work in an environment where we support each other in our accomplishments!

.....As I was standing in the hall waiting for a class some fourth grade students were passing by.  They checked the PE Password folder and commented that I had not changed it yet.  I told them that I was all set to change it the next day.  They keep me on my toes!

.....Fitness Frankie is off to Spain on a bicycling adventure!  More on that later.......

.....At the end of the week I had an amazing opportunity to attend and participate in the Fuel Up to Play 60 Forum at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey.  I was invited to be on a panel and speak about our successes with Fuel Up to Play 60.  I invited a colleague to go with me and we had a terrific time!  We came back with so many ideas that we are ready to go for next year!  Fitness Frankie came with us!  read about our adventure in his blog - The Adventures of Fitness Frankie!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

See you next week!