The Best Parts of My Week - 5/16/16--5/20/16

Hi everyone,

     It was a week that ended with a snow day give back day so even though it was a shorter week it ended with a page full of notes about the "best parts"!

.....As I was spotting a group of students on a single bar during Gymnastics, a kindergarten student came up to say: "You have a beautiful voice....."  I was flattered of course, but surprised that he would notice that enough to comment on it!

.....Use of the high balance beam is one of the most exciting segments of our Gymnastics unit.  I don't begin the unit with it because I want students to practice on the lower beams first.  When it is finally time to get on the "big beam" as they call it, most students are beyond excited.  Of course, there are some students who are not fans of height (just like me...).  Those students are a bit more hesitant and I always tell them that using the beam is a choice.  While there are always a handful of students who decide not to use the beam, most choose to have a turn.  Kindergarten students must hold my hand and the rest of students can hold my hand if they want or need to.  I am always pleased with the answer that hesitant students give when I ask them if they trust me.  They hold my hand so tight and are so proud of themselves when they have finished their turn successfully. Some students are so nervous that my hand is wet with sweat from holding their hand, yet, they still are brave enough to try!

 

.....Operation Healthy North Park is at the halfway point and I counted how many "Coop Cars" we have so far.  I am excited to say that we have collected 1,695 cars so far and more are on the way!  This means that our community has exercised for at least 33,900 minutes so far to celebrate National Physical Fitness Month!

.....Our school district held its budget vote on Tuesday and our teacher's union hosts a book sale and ice cream social during the vote.  I always volunteer at this event and this year I was helping with the book sale.  It was so nice to see current and former students and families and chat with them outside of school at a nice community event!

.....I have bus duty this month and I supervise students who are getting picked up.  I have written in this blog before about how I enjoy this duty because I get a chance to talk with students and ask them how their day went.  This week a kindergarten student walked in and asked me first: "How was your day?" It was so nice to be asked and even more special as it came from a kindergarten student!

.....A fifth grade class is conducting an experiment regarding exercise and academics. When I was discussing this with the teacher I was intrigued as it is a subject that is right up my alley!  As a school we all believe in the connection between exercise and academic success and as a result we are able to hold many special events that support this idea.  This class decided to conduct an experiment to determine if exercising before a math "sprint" (completing a timed series of math fact problems as quickly and correctly as possible) would improve their score.  They are compiling data for a month and invited me to participate.  I had some time this week to go down to the classroom and I was so impressed with what I saw.  Students completed a Math sprint, then we went outside to walk and stretch.  After exercise, students completed another Math sprint and corrected the tests.  Data is being kept in a Science notebook and results will be determined at the end of one month.  It was great fun exercising and being included in the process.  I even showed the students some research to support the connection between exercise and academic success.  As we were going back inside one student exclaimed: "We should exercise before every test!"  I agreed!  I am so fortunate to work in a school that is supportive and connected to best practices in education! Click here for pictures!

.....While I spend my time choosing to focus on the "best parts" each week, there are definitely challenges along the way.  After a chat with a class about behavior and need for improvement, I noticed that student behavior improved and there was a different "feel", if you will, during the class.   I stopped the class a few minutes early to discuss the change.  The students agreed that  there was a definite improvement in behavior so I asked them to tell me what they thought was different.  The responses were thoughtful ad accurate.  One student explained that they spent more time helping each other get better at the skills by giving specific feedback as I had been encouraging them to do using sentence starters that are posted at each station.  Another remarked that she noticed more body control by students, and a third student said that they were "calm but active"!  I let them know that I was proud of the improvement as well as their terrific responses.  We all agreed that being calm but active, using good body control, and giving specific feedback to help each other get better were great goals to have! 

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.  

Follow me on Twitter!  @mrobPE