The Best Parts of My (Short...) Week - 11/23/15--11/24/15

Hi everyone,
     It was a very short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday and report card conferences.  Students were only in attendance for two half days this week.  Regardless of the brevity of the week, there were still a few "Best Parts" to share!

.....Our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador group has been working hard to create posters advertising the program.  This week several of the posters were turned in and I had the pleasure of hanging them up in the hallway for everyone to enjoy!  

.....I mentioned in last week's blog that I had the opportunity to attend and present at the CTAHPERD and NYSAHPERD conferences last week.  A very good friend of mine always said that it was important to "learn one new thing" every time you attend any kind of professional development.  I am happy to say that I learned more than one new thing but this week I had the chance to try one of those new things out.  I learned about an app for my iPad called "Decide Now".  It is basically a colorful wheel that spins and stops on one of the sections of the wheel.  It comes pre-populated with particular wheels that have nothing to do with PE but it allows you to create your own wheels.  I created a Wheel of Fitness (I used the low tech version on my whiteboard in a previous week.) and I projected it on my whiteboard.  While my students loved the low tech version, they were so excited to use the high tech version too!  They had great fun exercising and spinning the wheel!

.....We are coming to the end of our cooperative activities unit and the culminating activity is rock wall climbing using our traverse rock wall.  Students begin by practicing trust leans and then are required to spot their climbing partner in a safe and responsible manner.  When I introduced the trust leans this week I asked for a volunteer who trusted me with their safety so that we could demonstrate the trust lean.  I got goosebumps as I saw all of the hands that went up immediately.......I responded that I was so happy that so many students trusted me.......  Students were so responsible and safe with the trust leans that when they were ready to use the rock wall I was confident that they would indeed keep their partners safe on the wall.  I am so thankful that we have a beautiful rock wall to use as a culminating activity.  We have had the wall for several years but there were many more years without it so I constantly remind myself and my students that we are fortunate to have such amazing and exciting opportunities......

Well, they do say "short but sweet" so I think that about covers this week!   I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week"!  Visit my website:  North Park Physical Education to find out more about our Physical Education program.  

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The Best Parts of My Week - 11/16/15--11/20/15

Hi everyone,
     As Thanksgiving approaches I am reminded of a quote I heard recently at a
NYS AHPERD conference:
"It is not happy people that are grateful but grateful people that are happy....."
I am grateful for so much in my life.  This blog is my attempt to share that gratitude and my happiness......

.....All of my students continue to work hard to learn how to cooperate, play fair, and play safe.  I am using the essential questions of "How do my actions affect others?" and "How does my behavior contribute to the success of the group?"  I am so impressed at the growth I am seeing during this unit.  I spend more time on this unit than on some others because I think it is so important to teach students these values.

.....One of the cooperative activities that students in K-2 participated in this week was Scooter Spaceships.  This is an idea from PE Central that I have adapted to meet the needs of my students and the equipment that I have.  One of my additions is that I place large cones with earth balls and asteroid balls on top.  I was asking students to name some planets that they were going to see as they explored in outer space.  Would you believe that kindergarten and first grade students came up with Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus?  I was floored when a kindergarten student said Saturn!  These are smart students for sure!

.....Our PE Password this past week was Quadriceps.  Students were learning that Quadriceps are important and powerful muscles in their legs.  I asked students where they might have heard the word "quad" before.  I expected that student answers would include a comparison to an ATV or 4 wheeler.  My intent was to teach them that "quad" means 4 and that there are four parts to the Quadriceps muscle.  While I did get that answer,  I also heard the following answers:  Quadruple, Quadrangle, and Quadrilateral!  WOW!  Now this is what we call Interdisciplinary PE!

.....Another one of my favorite cooperative activities is Environmental Helpers - also from PE Central.  The idea is that students share a scooter sitting back to back and then move about the gymnasium picking up "garbage" (bean bags, balls, etc.) to put in the garbage can.  Students have to take turns being the "driver" and the "collector".  Students love this activity and it was so great to see such sharing and caring!  They knew exactly what to do with the garbage and some even suggested recycling!

.....I had the opportunity to spend some time chatting with a student who was waiting to be picked up after school.  This student was helpful in cleaning up some equipment while we waited for her family.  The next day she told me that she had so much fun helping while we waited!

.....My fifth grade students were playing a game that involved rubber pigs and garbage bags called "Pigs in a Blanket".  This is a Project Adventure game that I learned many years ago.  I noticed that one of the students started to put a pig back in the box and choose another one.  He stopped and then brought the pig over to me to tell me that it had accidentally torn open while they were playing with it.  I was proud of his honesty.  He could have just put it away but he chose to be honest and take responsibility.  I thanked him for his honesty and told him that I was proud of his choice!

.....As I was getting ready to leave for a conference my substitute told me a story about how what we are teaching in PE is transferring to the classroom.  A student in fourth grade was working on a writing piece while this substitute teacher was in the classroom.  The task was to decide if pizza was healthy or not and then make a case either way.  This particular student was organizing his thoughts on paper using a teacher designed chart.  He wrote that vegetables were a "green light" food and if they were on the pizza then it could be healthy!  He learned this from our Healthy Highway program.  How great is that?

.....At the end of the week I had the honor and privilege of presenting and participating in two conferences in two different states.  On Thursday I presented at the CTAHPERD conference in Connecticut, and on Friday and Saturday I presented and was a part of the NYS AHPERD conference in New York.  Conferences are always so energizing and revitalizing!  I met and interacted with truly amazing professionals, some of whom I had never met, and others who have become my friends.  It was an honor to share some of the lessons that we do at North Park as well as learn and get inspired by these fantastic PE professionals!  We celebrated some amazing Teachers and Professionals of the Year on Friday night and on Saturday we did not want the conference to end......  I can't wait to get back to school to try out some of the new ideas that I learned!  You are never too old or too experienced to learn and try something new.  I hope I never forget that!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week"!  Visit my website:  North Park Physical Education to find out more about our Physical Education program.  

The Best Parts of My Week - 11/9/15--11/13/15

Hi everyone,
     We are right in the middle of our cooperative activities unit, our FUTP 60 Student Ambassador group is in full swing, I have the honor and privilege of presenting at some conferences this upcoming week, and the holidays are coming fast and furious!  My head is spinning and there are so many "Best Parts" to share!

......On Monday Fitness Frankie to Go came back and I had the best chat with a student who hosted him!  He told me all about how he was working outside with his dad and Fitness Frankie and drew a great picture!  One of the things I love best about this project is the conversations about healthy choices and the connections that we can make between school and home!

.....Speaking of our Fitness Bears, I had so much fun taking pictures of Muscle Missy and Physical Eddie this week!  Muscle Missy was in a fifth grade class and they took such great care to include her in all of the activities!  She even helped out a friend in need.......Physical Eddie's host class sent some great pictures of him enjoying a science experiment!  Again these bears continue the conversation about healthy choices and create connections to classroom learning and beyond.  I never dreamed that these bears would be so loved......

......Our third grade students were asked to invent a game this week using a bucket, a yarn ball, a rope, and a hoop.  We asked students to be safe, play fair, and name their game.  It was so impressive to watch the games being invented!  One of the groups that did this activity is a double third grade class that I team teach with another PE colleague.  We have more than 40 students and it was so much fun to watch the games being created and played!  One of the games was named:  "Virtual Basketball"!  My colleague and I work together very well and we take turns coming up with lesson ideas and warm-ups.  This was an activity that he planned.  I love the fact that I can still learn new things in my 33rd school year!

.....I was demonstrating a warm-up with my kindergarten students this week and as I was jogging around our rainbow track one of them said: "You are doing a good job Mrs. Robelee!'  It felt great to get some positive feedback and hear such kind words from my students!

.....Our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassadors met this week and we had a great meeting!  The students are so eager to get started and we already have some great ideas for healthy projects this year.  We asked students to make some posters advertising our Fuel Up to Play 60 team.  They worked well together and had some great ideas.  Before we knew it the hour long meeting was over!  Later in the week some of students finished and turned in their posters.  They are terrific and I can't wait to hang them up!

.....My fourth graders participated in a Project Adventure activity called "Turn Over a New Leaf".  The idea is that students start on a tarp and have to work together to turn it over without stepping off of the tarp.  The rule is that if anyone steps off of the tarp the group needs to begin again.  I have two tarps and divided the class in half so that the challenge of the task was reasonable.  I was surprised to see that students did not make it a competition between tarps but I was amazed when one of the students said that it was a good thing that they had to start over because they needed to change the way they were solving the problem.  How mature is that?  

.....A number of years ago I learned a cooperative tag game at a NYS AHPERD conference that involved donating items to students in need as part of the game.  It is a great game and while I have changed it a bit to meet the needs of my students the object of the game is the same.  Students "donate" bracelets if a student does not have anymore so that the game can continue.  At the end of this game I ask students to tell me how they felt when they donated or when someone else helped them.  The responses are always so moving.  Students said that they felt good helping others and felt happy when others helped them.  I feel good knowing that students are learning those values in PE class.......

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week"!  Visit my website:  North Park Physical Education to find out more about our Physical Education program.  

The Best Parts of My Week - 11/2/15--11/6/15

Hi everyone,
     How did we get to November already!  This school year is moving quickly!  It was a great week with so many different events and "Best Parts!'

.....All of my students are learning about cooperation in many different ways.  I love this unit and even though I have done the lessons before, there is always a new twist!  My fourth grade students were using "Co-oper Bands", which are like giant hair scrunchies.  The idea is that students take turns moving across the middle while in the band based on a particular color.  The message is that we are all connected and an action of one student affects all the others in the group as the band moves.  I was passing this message on when one student said that it was just like the Internet - we are all connected!

.....My primary students are cooperating by doing an activity called Train Tracks.  I learned this activity from the US Games OPEN curriculum.  The idea is that students make their human train move by taking turns passing a ball and then moving to the end of the train.  I thought it would be fun to have the students pick a pretend destination for the train.  They were very creative!  Some wanted to go to the beach and others wanted to go to Disneyland!  They were proud to tell their teacher where they traveled when they were picked up to go back to class!

.....On Tuesday students were off and teachers were participating in professional development.  I am a proud member of the Southeastern Zone of NYS AHPERD and our group hosts a conference on this day each year.  It was an amazing conference with national speakers like JD Hughes, John Jones, Mackenzie Mushel-Ellis, Irene Cucina and more!  I learned so much!  I have presented at this conference in the past but this year I was helping with the event.  During the day a teacher came up to me to tell me that she had recently used a lesson that I had presented last year.  She was being observed and both she and the administrator were so happy with the result!  It was great to hear that something I shared had such a positive impact and I appreciated so much her willingness to share!

.....Physical Eddie is being taken care of by a fourth grade class and they are enjoying his visit!  They are taking pictures along the way and I received them by email.  They were having fun outside and wanted to share the healthy activity!  

.....I am beginning to have students use video to assess their progress.  While I am just in the experimentation stage I had a student who was excused video tape a group while they were participating in a cooperative activity.  I showed the video at the end of class and students were able to pick out all of the acts of cooperation.  They also had some suggestions for improvement!  What a powerful tool to have students reflect on their learning!

.....I received an email this week from a former student teacher who is beginning his first job.  It was so great to hear how well he is doing!  It was kind of him to think of me and share the news.  It feels great to be connected to the next generation of PE professionals!

.....Our current PE Password is "Strategy".  Students were asked to talk about strategies that they use.  It was wonderful to hear the strategies that they use in games and sports but they also know that strategies are also necessary for reading, math, and more!

.....Our next Healthy Highway assembly was scheduled for Friday of this past week and on Thursday afternoon during bus duty I was talking with students about the assembly.  They were excited to know that a new road was planned and wanted to know what it was.  I told them it would be revealed the next day but asked them to guess what they thought it was.  They guessed "Honest Road".  While that is not the next road it is a great suggestion and tells me that they know that honesty is important! 

.....The actual next road is Kindness Way. Our assembly was wonderful!  We always relate the road to Physical Education, Nutrition Education, and Character Education.  We talked about being kind to our bodies by exercising and staying safe and eating good food to help us stay healthy.  Students had great responses when asked about ways to achieve these kindnesses!  Our principal found a video about a first grade class that decided to create projects around the theme of kindness and showed this video to our students.  Our school was then challenged to come up with kindness projects that could be simple or more involved.  As students were leaving the assembly and later in the day they were already talking about what they would do to show kindness and what kind of projects they wanted to do!  One third grade student was talking about it while waiting to be picked up and he said that it was the best Healthy Highway assembly that we have had since he was a kindergarten student!  I asked him why he thought that and he said that we talked about so much in the same amount of time and we accomplished more!  I can't wait to see what kindness projects students create!  

 I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week"!  Visit my website:  North Park Physical Education to find out more about our Physical Education program.  

The Best Parts of My Week - 10/26/15--10/30/15

Hi everyone,
     Those of you who have had experience in an elementary setting know that the week of Halloween is exciting, busy and somewhat chaotic all at once!  While challenges abound during this week the "best parts" were not hard to find!

.....Fitness Frankie to Go came back on Monday morning after having a terrific healthy adventure with his second grade friend!  The journal entry included an amazing picture of him flying through the air while jumping in a pile of leaves!  He had on a sweatshirt that I did not recognize that I imagine he borrowed from his host family!

.....Muscle Missy and Physical Eddie are having so much fun in their host classrooms!  I had fun taking pictures this week and posting them on their slide show!

.....We spent the beginning of the week putting together a thank you project for our student teacher who had finished the week before.  Students were very thoughtful in their list of thank yous and I explained to the students how I was going to compile the list and make it a gift for our former student teacher.  One of the students remembered that we did a similar activity with last year's student teacher.  I explained to the students that this thank you gift would mean so much to Miss K and that I still have a thank you gift I received from a group I worked with when I student taught over 33 years ago!  Not only were they impressed but they understood on a deeper level how important this project truly is........ 

.....We began a unit on cooperative activities this week and I asked my students about what challenges they faced in completing a particular activity.  It was a Tangram puzzle challenge and students mentioned communication, solving the puzzle, and working together as challenges.  The discussion led to the topic of frustration and I asked students what they did when they got frustrated.  Students had amazing and mature responses!  One student said that when he got frustrated he took a break, another said that she walked away for a bit, and still another said that he took a deep breath!  Sounds like some good advice for all!

.....One of the beginning cooperative activities we do involves making puzzles out of these words:  Show Respect, Courage, Play Fair, Play Hard, Play Safe, Cooperate.  After the puzzles are completed, I ask students to discuss what each phrase means.  I enjoyed listening to their discussions and felt good about what they already know about each word or phrase!  

.....I had great fun being silly to make a point during a Puzzle Buddy activity with my second grade students!  Giggles could be heard out into the hallway!

.....I wear a Fitbit to keep track of my steps, heart rate, etc. and regularly share my step counts with my students to show that I exercise and make healthy choices and to lead by example.  This week two of my students showed me that they were wearing Fitbits too!

.....I had a great discussion with a parent regarding healthy snacks this week.  Wednesday is Wellness Wednesday and classes earn miles if everyone has a healthy snack.  The parent let me know that she remembered the healthy snack because last week she forgot and her child made a point of letting her know that she needed to remember this week!  

.....We have many students in our school who are learning English as a new language.  A few of our students speak very little English and this week a new student arrived whose primary language is Spanish.  I can speak a little bit of Spanish based on my high school Spanish class education and so I greeted the child in Spanish and explained that I spoke a little bit of Spanish.  The smile that spread across her face was heartwarming and reminded me that sometimes all it takes to make a child's day is a little bit of effort, not perfection......

.....After finishing a cooperative activity with a third grade class a student came up to me and said:  "That was the funnest gym class ever!

.....I co-teach a few of my classes with another PE teacher and when we co-teach we have two classes in the gym at the same time.  We divide the teaching duties and this week my teaching partner was teaching the main lesson and I was facilitating.  The students were doing a partner activity and there was an odd number of students.  Oftentimes we make groups of three when this happens but for this activity partners worked better so I asked if I could be her partner.  We had so much fun!  It was great just to play!

.....At the end of the week we celebrated the upcoming holiday with Pumpkin Fitness!  This is a simple warm-up that uses foam pumpkin cut-outs with exercises that I wrote on the back.  Students move to the music around the pumpkins and stop at the closest one when the music stops.  Next, they turn over the pumpkin and complete the exercise.  The students were so excited!  It was great to acknowledge the excitement of the holiday but channel it into some great exercise!  

 I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week"!  Visit my website:  North Park Physical Education to find out more about our Physical Education program.