Hi everyone,
School is in full swing and my notebook page was full this week! There are many “Best Parts” to share!
……On Monday morning my principal and I were in the hallway
talking and a student stopped by to introduce us to a new student. After they walked away they moved
toward the gymnasium. The student
giving the tour (a fourth grader) opened the door and said: ”This is the PE room”. How cool is that? The word “gym” is not even in his
vocabulary!
…..My students in grades 3-5 are learning how to use pedometers
and this week I was going over an essential question that I wanted students to
think about. The question on our
goal chart was: “How can a
pedometer help me to stay fit?”
After introducing that question I asked: ”How many students think I exercise?” I was so happy to see every hand up in
the air! They are correct, of
course, and it nice that they know that it is important for adults to exercise
too!
…..My second grade students were completing a warm-up this week
that included wall sits for 30 seconds.
I was demonstrating how to do this when one of my students said” ”You have muscles in your legs!” I commented that I am glad that he
noticed that it takes muscles to do exercise and I explained that I exercise to
make my muscles strong too!
…..One of the pedometer activities that my students complete is
an activity that uses Gel Boards.
Students take turns being a recorder and a runner during an activity
during which students try to get as many steps as possible in a short period of
time while doing two separate moves during different parts of the song. I encourage the students who are the
recorders to write positive messages on the boards while their partners are
moving because the activity is challenging and students get tired quickly. Then they are asked to record pedometer
steps on the board as well when the task is completed. At the end of the class I ask students
how it felt when their partner wrote nice encouraging messages on the board. My students wrote some amazing messages
and had some incredibly insightful answers. Students said that the messages made them feel good and also
helped them complete the task but one student said that when someone says
something nice to you it can make a bad day better…….I challenged them to
continue to be positive all year long!
I even had one student write a message to me when they handed in their
board. They wrote: “You rock!” and “I love Mrs.
Robelee!” These messages were
definitely some of the best parts of my week!
…..Another introductory pedometer activity included using
spinning tops, deck rings, and hula hoops. Students used this equipment like timers. They would spin the equipment and
exercise as long as the equipment was spinning. The idea was to get as many steps as possible during a
spin. I did not tell students
which exercises to do because I wanted them to discover which exercises would
increase their step counts the most.
I was impressed at the variety of exercises that students chose. They did the obvious exercises like
jumping jacks and running in place, but then they branched out to “wacky
jacks”, scissor jumps, skier’s jumps, crab kicks, and even made up an exercise
that we decided to call scissor claps!
…..During a warm-up this week students were jumping rope and a
fifth grader called me over to see that he finally mastered the double
under! I wish I had a picture of
his face! It was the face of pure
joy and pride!
…..My duty at school includes supervising the students who are
picked up at the end of the day instead of riding a bus. One student was complaining that his
family member had not arrived yet and I told him that sometimes we need to have
patience. Right then and there a
kindergarten student told me that she has a book about an elephant that needs
to learn about patience. I think I
need to read that book and have it on hand!
…..Primary students took a “solar system field trip” this week
after reading Ziny’s Driving School by my friend Lynn Hefele. As students arrived on different
planets they were encouraged to explore.
After each planet exploration I asked students to share what they
discovered. My second grade
students were so creative! One
student said that she saw an Alligator Taco and another said they saw a
chocolate mountain with aliens eating marshmallows! While some of the students shared their discoveries after
raising their hands, I also asked students to “turn and talk” to a friend to
share. I love to hear the
conversations! While this only
takes less than a minute it is a great way to make sure that all students are
heard. They were so creative and
proud to to share with their classmates.
I shared their creativity with their teachers and before long they were
talking about using this experience as a writing activity! At the end of the activity I asked
students to turn in their “quasar” (spaceship) keys so that I would have them
for next year. There were moans
and groans! They did not want to
give up the keys because they were having so much fun!
…..I wear a lanyard with my school ID on it and I have
decorated the lanyard over the years with pins from different places that we
have traveled with Fitness Frankie.
This week one of my students happened to notice some of the pins and
said: ”I like your souvenir
pins!” I had fun telling her a bit
about where they came from!
…..Like many of my students I have a new pair of sneakers for
this school year. I wear my old
sneakers to school and then change into my new ones (keeps them cleaner that
way!) One day I noticed that I
forgot to change into my new sneakers and commented on it during class. One of my second grade students
suggested that I write myself a reminder in my phone! Students are so tech savvy!
…..A student was so excited about how well he could do push-ups
and came over to me to ask ”Can I show you my push-ups?” Of course! I was happy that he wanted me to share in his success!
…..I noticed this week that my students are better able to
complete fitness and high intensity activities than they were many years
ago. We have increased the amount
of PE and physical activity that students participate in and I think it has
made a difference!
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
