Sunday, November 15, 2015

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.