Hi everyone,
The week began on Tuesday this week due to the Columbus Day
holiday. Still, the list of the
"Best Parts" is quite impressive!
.....As many of you are aware, teachers all over the country are
struggling to implement Common Core.
I am working hard to find ways to support the Common Core without losing
activity time. I recently learned
that one of the NYS Speaking and Listening Domains for first grade is the Human
Body and one of the core vocabulary words is "joint". During a warm up this week one of my
first graders said "we are moving our joints!" It was a terrific teachable
moment! We had a great discussion
about what joints are and how we use them. When the class was picked up the student proudly told his
teacher about our discussion!
.....In the classroom, students are often asked to
"think-pair-share" or "turn and talk" to discuss an
important concept. I like the idea
but want to add the activity so I use a "walk and talk" technique
when I want students to discuss a concept or work out a plan. This week I introduced this idea to
first and second graders and they had some amazing discussions about muscles
and the heart! I loved listening
to their discussions as they passed me during the "walk and talk"!
.....Second grade students participate in a "Fitness Frankie
to Go" program that I developed using our mascot bear - Fitness Frankie. Each weekend two new
students take Fitness Frankie home with them for a healthy adventure. On Monday the students brought Fitness
Frankie back and the healthy adventures were terrific! One student drew a picture of bicycling
with Fitness Frankie and the other had a photo taken while doing push-ups with
Fitness Frankie on his back! I
can't wait to see the rest of the adventures!
.....I saw so many "butterfly claps" this week! Students use this technique to show me
that are excited about something without making noise or disrupting the class!
.....Our primary warm up this week was a song that allows
students to be a leader and lead the class in exercises. It is one of our favorite warm ups and
this week one of the leaders used an exercise that he had recently learned
-"bear push-ups". The
whole class was growling and getting strong!
.....As a first grade student left PE class this week she said
"I like PE. It makes me
sweat!"
.....The PE password this week was Quadriceps. Every time I saw one of my fifth
graders this week he told me the password! I must have seen him at least ten times! I think he learned the word!
.....As we began our cooperative unit this week I tried a new
activity with fourth and fifth grade students. It involved using large tangram puzzle pieces and working
together to get the pieces, choose a puzzle, and complete it as quickly as
possible. It was so much fun! The communication and problem solving
strategies were amazing and students competed as many as six or seven puzzles in a short
period of time! It's great to try new
things!
.....One of my fourth grade students was warming up with a jump
rope this week and said "watch this...." She was jump roping on one foot with her eyes closed!
.....My upper elementary students use pedometers during almost
every class period. One of my
fifth grade students asked if next time we could use the calorie mode during PE. Of course I said yes and showed him how
to check!
.....We are beginning a Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador
program this year and I had a great discussion with one of our
ambassadors. Our first meeting is
next week but she has already signed up and is ready to go!
.....I love technology and have recently joined a PE professional
learning community on Twitter. I
have learned so much and had the opportunity this week to participate in a
webinar sponsored by SPARK to learn more about using Twitter. It was fantastic!
I am looking forward to using it more and learning from the amazing
professionals in the PE learning community! You can follow me
on Twitter - @mrobPE #physed
.....The week ended with our first school -wide Fitness
Friday! We use our PA system to
play an activity song and students and teachers participate together in their
classrooms. As I was going down
the hall to take pictures one student was on his way to join his class and was
dancing and snapping his fingers to the beat with a huge smile on his
face!
WHEW! What a 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
