Sunday, December 13, 2015

The Best Parts of My Week - 12/7/15--12/11/15

Hi everyone,
   If you spend any time at all in an elementary school around the holidays you know how excited the students (and staff) are!  When all of the holiday events are added to the mix the result can be both amazing and exhausting!  My head was spinning at any given point this week but there were so many "Best Parts" to keep me grounded and positive!

.....My primary students are learning about striking skills and about how to use those skills in various sports and games.  Kindergarten students are using balloons and when I brought out the bag of balloons (in a clear garbage bag) one of my students said: "you have the most beautiful things....."
It made me remember that sometimes the simplest thing can bring the most joy......

......Speaking of simple.....I gave a small compliment to a student who was using a jump rope during our personal fitness choice warm-up.  I told her how well she had learned to do the Criss-Cross jump rope trick.  She immediately had a huge smile on her face and continued to practice.  I hope I made her day......

.....One of my third grade students could not wait to tell me about his weekend and his accomplishment at a tournament.  He was so excited and I was so happy that he wanted to share the news with me!

.....I love technology and I am fortunate to have iPad minis for student and class use.  I decided to add a "Coach My Video" app and in some classes this week I filmed students while they were working on volleyball skills of the set and the forearm pass.  It was so cool to be able to help students get better at a skill by pointing out what they were doing well and what they could do to improve.   They loved seeing themselves and when I asked for feedback about whether or not this helped them get better they definitely agreed!  Wow.....has PE changed in the last 32 years!

.....I have been working on a behavior issue in some of my classes involving sliding.  Sometimes students slide into a spot when lining up or getting equipment and students know that it can be dangerous but some forget and still do it.  In order to stop this practice I told students that if they were sliding I would "put a time-out in my pocket for later", which meant that I would get to choose when the time-out would be in effect.  When a third grade class arrived this week one of the students went over to our "Stop and think about it" center and sat down.  When I asked him what he was doing he said: "I slid last class and I owe you a time-out."  I was so impressed at his honesty and the sliding has stopped!

.....I had some great conversations this week with students who were waiting to be picked up.  We talked about everything from PE to how the day went and we also discussed some events that were scheduled later in the week.  It was nice to just chat!

.....Our PTA is wonderful and they sponsor a Holiday Fair during which students can shop for the holidays for gifts for their family members.  Students love this day and are excited beyond belief because they know that the holidays are not far away.  This year there was quite a delay and so instead of PE for a few classes I needed to supervise them during the shopping.  While I do not want students to miss PE, this delay was unavoidable so instead I enjoyed their excitement!  They were so proud of their purchases and many showed me their treasures.  They were so excited to give rather than receive....

.....One of my second grade students explained to me why a balloon would move when a foam racket merely passed by it without touching it.  He explained that it must be the wind that makes it move!  He and his partner had some fun experimenting!

.....Our school is a Healthy Highway school and our classes earn miles for healthy choices.  I announced that Friday was "Double Miles" day and I had fun awarding twice the miles.  One student asked how I knew it was "Double Miles" day.  I answered that it "just came to me" and smiled.  He seemed happy with the answer and happy that his class was earning miles times two!

.....Our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador group planned a "Let's Dance Fitness Friday!" for their first project of the year.  We met on Tuesday to preview dances available on the internet (We are fortunate because most of our classrooms have smart boards.) and we created a list for teachers to choose from.  Some of the ambassadors helped with making a announcement and we had so much fun dancing!  I was able to get to many classes while they were dancing and observed first hand the fun that students and teachers were having.  I danced during PE, in the Library, in third grade and fifth grade classrooms, and I received pictures of students dancing in many other grades as well!  I am always grateful for the support that we receive from all of the adults in our building!  These events can not happen without the support of my principal, classroom teachers, special area teachers and many others.   We had a great time and our Student Ambassadors were great leaders of this activity!

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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