Hi everyone,
The theme that kept appearing
this week over and over was “never stop learning!” I think it is a good
theme to live by!
- My student teacher for the next
eight weeks began on Monday morning. I always love having student
teachers because their enthusiasm is infectious, it reminds me of the
beginning of my career many years ago, I learn something from them, and it
is a chance to share my experiences with the next generation of teachers.
Maybe something that I teach will make a difference long after I am
gone…….
- We had a fantastic opportunity
this week to have a representative from Speedstacks demonstrate some of
their new lesson ideas with a few of my classes. When the
opportunity presented itself I hesitated because I knew I would not be
able to provide this opportunity to all of my students. Then I
realized that if I learned some new activities I could share them with the
rest of my classes. I asked the classes that attended the demo
lessons to help because they were going to help me to teach their friends
the new activities. My students were terrific and I learned so many
new activities to add fitness to Speedstacks. We actually took one
of the ideas and tried it for the rest of the week. Never stop
learning!
- I have mentioned before that I am
an active member of the Southeastern Zone of NYS AHPERD, and in fact, I am
proud and honored to be the president of this zone. This week we
held a Care to Share event at Manhattanville College. Not only did I
have a chance to share some lessons and activities with the students, I
had a chance to learn some new ideas from other presenters! Our PE
professional organizations offer amazing professional development
opportunities and I have been fortunate to be able to take advantage of
these learning situations for many years. Even though I am in my
34the school year I am still learning new things. Again, my message
to the students was “never stop learning!”
- We began our Cooperative unit this week and the first activity that I like to do is a Cooperative Puzzle Project. I created puzzles with the following messages: Cooperate, Show Respect, Courage, Play Fair, Play Safe, and Play Hard. Students work in six small groups and during the activity they work together to find the puzzle pieces for their particular puzzle. Then students talk about what their puzzle means and they share their ideas with the class. I was so impressed with the students’ responses. Their discussions were thoughtful and their answers were right on the mark. In talking about cooperation we came around to the word compromise. When I asked students what that meant a fourth grader said that when you compromise each person gets some of what they want!
- I have been teaching this
cooperative unit for many, many years and I love it because students come
up with new ways to solve problems every year. This week I was doing
a cooperative Bean Bag game and a first grade student came up with a way
to include everyone and help. It was an idea using the colors of the
beanbags that I had never thought of! The cooperative unit always
reminds me to “never stop learning!”
- I love technology but I realize that not everyone feels the same way. I enjoy helping others so when someone asks me to help out with a technology-related issue I am ready to go! This week one of our teachers had a new smartboard installed and I was asked to surprise the students by teaching their teacher how to do Go Noodle. My student teacher and I showed up on Tuesday morning and when the teacher asked the students why I might be there they guessed Go Noodle! I had great fun showing the teacher how to use it on her smartboard. While we were participating in an activity our principal walked in and participated right along with us! Now that’s support! I’ll say it again….never stop learning!
- On my way back from lunch one day
this week a fourth grade class was returning to class from the cafeteria.
A student stopped to tell me that she had a healthy lunch of yogurt,
a granola bar, and pineapple! I had fun telling her that I had
yogurt also and that pineapple is my favorite fruit!
- Despite many reminders to wear
sneakers for PE class, some students still do not have sneakers for PE
class due to a variety of factors. I have a sneaker box for students
to use occasionally if necessary but I would rather they have their own
sneakers. One student who fits the category of needing reminders to
wear sneakers arrived with a smile and a pair of sneakers and said:
“Today is your lucky day!” and pointed to her sneakers!
Nothing to do but smile!
- A colleague of mine and I were
honored to be recognized by our Board of Education this week because of
the work done to be awarded the Let’s Move Active Schools National Recognition Award. I had a few minutes to talk about how we were
able to be eligible for the award. I talked about the North Park
team that I am proud to be a part of. Students, staff, and
administrators work so hard to continue the conversation about the
importance of healthy choices. I am so fortunate to have the support
of so many…….When my principal spoke she told a story about a student who
was leaving for the afternoon during an early release day. She
encouraged this student to have a great afternoon and the student replied
that he was looking forward to time to play video games but he asked her
not to tell Mrs. Robelee! I guess he knew that I would be saying he
should go outside and play…..since that message was in his head I bet he
did!
- Basketball Betty and Physical Eddie came to PE this week and had so much fun! My student teacher
jumped right on the bandwagon and helped me with some of the photo ops! A
third grade class brought Basketball Betty to PE and one student called
her Fitness Frankie. When I corrected him he said: “You have
so many bears I can’t keep track!”
We have a photo album of their adventures this year. Click here to see them!
- I was working on a bulletin board
in the hallway when a student asked me to be sure and say hello to our new
student teacher. He is already a rock star on day 5!
- I love to play different music
during activities and this week I was using a CD that had country line
dance music as some of the selections. I noticed that one of the
students was actually doing the dance while he was waiting for his turn!
- Students were so excited about our Healthy Highway assembly on Friday. One of them asked about the time and said: “I can’t wait!”. Our new road is Integrity Interstate and the plan was to teach students the meaning of integrity in relation to Character, Physical Fitness and PE, and Nutrition. We have some new members of our Healthy Highway committee and they are enthusiastic and creative! As a result, our assemblies are fresh and exciting! We had a great time teaching the meaning of integrity to our students!
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
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