Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Best Parts of My Week - 3/7/16--3/11/16

Hi everyone,
     This past week was Circus Week and it is one of the most amazing, intense, enjoyable, amazing, exhausting, incredible, and fun weeks of the year!  Our PTA is so generous and it is no small task to support this project.  I am so grateful and I have so many "Best Parts" to share that I had to use two pages of paper to write it all down!

.....During Circus Week the National Circus Project comes to our school to do an artist in residency program.  Two circus artists spend the week at school teaching our students how to do a variety of skills but students learn so much more than how to juggle, walk on stilts, spin plates, use a diablo, balance feathers, and use flower sticks.  The week begins with a show by the artists and this year's beginning assembly did not disappoint!  The students have been waiting for Circus Week to begin so the excitement in the air on Monday morning was palpable!  Students were walking by the gym and peeking in the doorway to see what was set up and it was so nice to see the smiles spread across their faces when they saw the backdrop, balloons, and equipment set up!

.....So it was time for the show to begin and students filed into the gymnasium.  They could barely contain their excitement!  Since I know what the week entails, I could hardly contain my excitement too!  The show was amazing and the circus artists impressed us with their incredible juggling skills, balancing and dance moves, plate spinning, clowning, and showmanship!  Students left the show and could not wait to come back to learn the skills themselves!

.....The general idea of the week is that all students come to the gymnasium for workshops to learn circus skills and that the fifth grade students pick and act to learn, practice all week, and then perform for the school on Friday morning and then again for families and friends on Friday evening.   As the first groups came in they could not wait to begin.  I was so proud of how the students behaved.  They made me proud this week!

.....As fifth graders were trying out all of the different skills they were asked to find a skill that they would like to perform in the show.  The show is divided into eight acts:  plate spinning, clowning, stilt walking, diablo, flower sticks, balancing, juggling, and wire (yes - the wire!).  Students must show their skill to a circus artist and then be signed up for the act.  One of the fifth graders had just made the plate spinning team and he smiled and said:  "I have been waiting my whole life to be on that team!

.....As students in other classes came to the gymnasium for their chance to learn circus skills many of them commented on what skill they will perform when they are in fifth grade.  It is so great that they are planning ahead!  

.....I love to practice my circus skills too and this week I was practicing my stilt walking (how many people can say that???).  It was great to hear one of my fifth grade students encouraging my while I worked hard to walk without falling!

.....After school we have an enrichment program that meets a few days per week.  One of the groups is using some electronics to create circuits that turn things on and off.  After school this week a group came to the gym to show me that they created a circuit that would make a clown nose light up!

.....Having nothing to do with circus week we met with our student ambassadors on Tuesday morning.  They are a wonderful group and I smiled when one of the fifth graders arrived with a clown nose on!  She was planning on being on the clown team and was dressing in character!

.....From time to time I have students who are reluctant to participate in PE for a variety of reasons.  I could not believe it this week when one of those students arrived prepared for PE and excited to learn how to spin a plate!  This is one of the many benefits of this type of program.....

.....Due to the change in the PE schedule this week I took a kindergarten class outside on the playground for PE class.  This almost never happens but it was a beautiful day and the gym was being used for the circus activities.  I was so touched when I saw a kindergarten student give up her swing for another student who was waiting to use one........

.....As the week continued I began to notice the progress that all students were making.  5th graders were becoming more confident, fourth graders were picking out their favorite skill and sticking with it, and first graders were surprised at what they could do by themselves.  At some moments I just stood back and enjoyed the view.........

.....As the fifth grade clown team was leaving a practice session this week one of the students called:  "Clown Huddle!"  They all stopped and huddled together.  What a team!

.....The circus artists invited me to juggle with them at the end of a first grade circus session.  We had a few minutes left and they were performing for the students.  They needed me for a trick.  I had no idea what to expect but readily volunteered.  They had me stand in the middle while they juggled clubs in front and behind me.  It was fun!  As the first graders left one of them said:  " I can't believe you were brave enough to do that!" 

.....After all of the wonderful moments of the week and getting to know the circus artists it was Show Time!  The fifth graders were nervous of course, but they were indeed ready to perform!  I could not have been more proud and I was happy to tell them so!  The daytime show was super and students were so excited to perform for their teachers, siblings and friends.  When the applause began after each act finished you could see the looks of relief and pride on the faces of the students.  I definitely had a tear or two in my eyes as I watched students persevere and succeed at a difficult trick.  The evening show was held at our high school gymnasium to accommodate a larger crowd and our PTA supported the event with popcorn, face painting, decorations, and circus games while the performers were getting ready.  It was so great to have so much help and support!  Again, it was an amazing show and if possible, even better the second time around!  At the end of the evening when all was said and done I was happy and exhausted and I did not even have to perform!

.....I can't say enough about this program but one of the great things about it is that it is a program that finds success for all.  Regardless of physical limitations, academic challenges, language barriers and more, every single student found success on some level this week.  My principal is a great advocate for this program and knows that there is more to school than test scores.......!!!!  I am fortunate and grateful to so many for so much........

Fitness Frankie enjoyed the circus too!  


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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