Hi everyone,
We had a wonderful Spring Break but it was great to get back to school! It was such a busy week that at the end of the week I felt like we had been back for two weeks instead of one!
.....The week began with a group of staff playing in the gym. Let me explain. As a reward for student participation in Read Across America, the staff is putting together a video. Scenes have been filmed in every part of the school! For the gymnasium scene I invited the staff to come and play with chickens, gorillas, parachutes, pigs, and more! It was so much fun no one wanted to leave! Everyone agreed that it was a great way to start the week and asked if they could do it again! Oh, by the way students don't know about all of the scenes that we have filmed so .......Shhhhhhh.......It's a secret!
.....As students returned to school I asked if they had been active during vacation. A fifth grade student told me that he had the most "Fitnessy" vacation ever! He explained that he and his family and friends took walks and were very active!
.....I love music and I always have some kind of music playing when students are being active. This week the music I chose encouraged all kinds of dancing, even when dancing was not the primary objective!
.....I had a terrific discussion with a fifth grade class about food labels early in the week as we finished up our unit on nutrition activities. Fifth graders participated in an activity that I call Food Label Frenzy. They run and pick up food cards that have actual portion sizes and a food label on the back of the card. One of my students told me that even McDonald's has food labels on their bags now. We all agreed that it was great information and would help us to make healthy choices!
.....Third grade students played a game I call Nutrition Tag. Half of the students are "it" and attempt to tag as many people as possible. Those who are not "it" have cards with questions about nutrition. When tagged, they must ask a question of the "it". If the question is answered correctly, the "it" gets to keep the card. If the question is answered incorrectly, students are encouraged to "teach" the correct answer so that learning is always happening. Students who need more cards come to me. As I was observing the class, I overheard a student tell another student who had not gotten the question correctly say: "Nice try, though." That statement made me smile!
.....This week I renamed the Physical Fitness Test. Students (and adults) can have such anxiety over testing so I decided to explain to the students that we would no longer be calling it a test. Instead, it will be called the Physical Fitness Challenge. I wanted students to understand that the value in completing these "challenges" (I almost typed "tests".....) is the knowledge that can be gained, the goals that can be made and achieved, and the purpose of Physical Fitness as a lifelong journey. I was pretty impressed at how students received this approach. Many agreed that tests make them worry and liked the idea of a challenge!
.....The PE Password is in the hallway in different locations so that students can be exposed to PE vocabulary even when they are not in PE. In addition to the word and picture clues, I include a QR code that gives information about the word. Students scan the code during PE and discuss the word as part of our lesson for the day. This week our band teacher came into the gymnasium to show me that he scanned the QR code and learned all about Carbohydrates! It came about as a student was looking at the word in the hallway and needed some help to read it. He stepped right in. Now that is absolutely fantastic!
.....In the middle of the week I had an amazing opportunity. I met with the staff of one of our state senators to advocate for some legislation regarding quality Physical Education and Health Education that is currently being considered. It was my first time advocating in this capacity and I must say I was more than a little nervous. At the same time it was exhilarating!
.....I have a sneaker box with gently used sneakers available for students who need them. This week a student came to the gymnasium with a bag. He said: "Carbohydrates" (the PE Password) and then opened the bag to show me some sneakers he was ready to donate!
.....Students in the primary grades are beginning to practice striking skills with a variety of equipment. We always start with balloons and the students were so excited to practice! Who doesn't like playing with a balloon? It was hard asking them to stop practicing when it was time to go back to class!
.....At the end of the week a class of fourth grade students were getting ready to a PE Pack home for the weekend. This pack includes a pedometer, jump rope, and log card and encourages students to exercise at home. They were so excited! I can't wait to see how many steps they logged and add that data to my website!
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
