The Best Parts of My Week - 5/22/17--5/26/17

Hi everyone,

     There were a number of milestone “lasts” this week and some special events and as a result, there were some VERY emotional moments as I move toward retirement…….

…..Early in the week I had a few very small classes because most of the 4th and 5th graders were at a rehearsal at our high school for the evening concert.  There were only about 10 students in each class and they were both very calm groups.  At the end of the class one of the students said they enjoyed it and there was “no chaos…”  I had to think for a minute about what he meant (I don’t normally do chaos) and realized that his particular class is usually much noisier, and sometimes needs quite a bit of redirection.   I am glad that he enjoyed it.  I did too!

…..One of my fifth grade students was working on straddle jumps in our gymnastics unit this week and she is quite good at them.   She came over to me to ask:  “Do you know why I am so good at this?”   I responded “Why?”  She told me that there is a game from her home country - the Philippines - that requires a very high straddle jump over an object of some sort.  She had practiced and got better at it!  

…..During gymnastics students remove their sneakers so that they can participate on our beautiful carpeted mat floor.  Some students struggle with tying their shoes at the end of class.  One student was particularly struggling with this recently and he was becoming very frustrated.   I (along with some other adults) were working hard to help him learn.  One day this week he showed me that he had been practicing and just about had the skill!  He was very proud and so was I!  

…..One of the gymnastics stations recently involved a series of equipment and skills that students were putting together in a routine from start to finish.  In a second grade class I compared the station to a sentence noting that there was a beginning, middle, and end.  I called it a gymnastics sentence and that seemed to help students to understand the task.  During this week I added some different “gymnastic sentence” stations and was giving directions to this same second grade.  I cautioned them to move carefully around the stations to get to the next one rather than going through the middle.  One student raised her hand and said:   ”You’ll break up the gymnastics sentence!”

…..Our PTA is amazing and for the past several years has provided Field Day shirts for all of our students to wear on Field Day.  While we are not quite ready for Field Day yet, we are celebrating our 50th year and this week a photo shoot was planned to have the entire school make the letters NPE 50 while wearing the Field Day shirt.  On Tuesday afternoon I was called down to the office and when I got there I was presented with the shirt that we were supposed to wear the following morning.  I had seen the design but what I had not seen (it was a surprise!) was that every single shirt has “We Love You Mrs. Robelee” on a banner that our mascot lion is carrying!  I was an absolute mess of happy tears!  The next day when I saw everyone wearing the shirt it was completely unbelievable!  Students were fantastic as we asked for patience to get everyone in the correct spot.  Click here to see the NPE 50 picture!  

…..We held our last Student Ambassador meeting this week and my colleague and I brought juice and granola bars for the students and then we had some play time in the gym.  It was so much fun as we said thank you for a great year!

…..On Wednesday after school I had the chance to spend some time bike riding with one of my student ambassadors.  She recently learned to ride her bike and it had been quite a challenge.  She told me that the Student Ambassador group gave her the courage to accomplish her goal of learning to ride her bike!  Her mom brought her bike to school and then we spent time riding around together as she chatted about everything!  It was delightful and something very special……...

…..I am constantly encouraging my students to work on a goal during PE.  Using “Freedom with Responsibility” helps because students are free to choose activities based on the goal that they want to work on.  One of my students this week worked so very hard to do a front circle on both the low bar and the high bar.  He kept trying and he did it!  Later on, an adult working in that classroom told me that she could see an increase in his confidence level as he tried some other work in the classroom that was usually challenging for him.  It made my heart smile to know that something he accomplished in PE helped him in the classroom!

…..One of my fourth grade students arrived to PE with this message:  “My shoe fell off on my way here…..I guess my feet knew it was time for gymnastics!”  How can you not laugh at that????  :-)  

.....Physical Eddie has been with my bicycle in the main lobby for awhile. He was originally there because I was advertising the Bike Rodeo and Safety Clinic, but I have been so busy I have not had time to take him back to my office. This week on of my very creative colleagues decided to write a note from him to me and bring him to the mailboxes. He said it was time to go back to my office and that it was so hard for him to ride a bike anyway because he is only 10 inches tall! I laughed out loud!

…..One of my former students is working on his Eagle Scout project and he is building a storage shed which will store Fitness Bags for students to borrow.  I am so proud of his work and grateful that he chose North Park for his project.  He has been working on this project for about two years and this week he was able to put the finishing touches on the storage shed and put together the bags.  He stopped by one afternoon while I had a class and I took the opportunity to introduce him to the students.  After he left, one of my students said that he knew him from Boy Scouts and said:  “He is VERY nice!”  He is, of course!  What I did not know was that later in the week, he would surprise me at our last Healthy Highway assembly with a plaque dedicating the project to me and the students of North Park.  Again, I was a mess of happy tears!  

…..Our last Healthy Highway assembly of the year (and my career) was on Thursday afternoon.  It was going well as we introduced our last road for the year:  Justice Junction.

 Near the end of the assembly I was called up by our principal and then our Student Ambassador group came up and read a letter thanking me for starting the Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador program at North Park.  Each of the fifth graders read something about why they liked the program and what they learned and then presented me with flowers as well as a card and messages from each of our 31 ambassadors.  I tried to compose myself but it was no use….again, I was a mess happy tears!  The assembly was not over yet, however, as one of my colleagues presented me with my new bear…..”Retirement Roxie!”  I was so emotional at this point that I could not speak.  I tried my best to say thank you as I noticed others (including students) wiping away tears.  I never in my wildest dreams thought that others would think of me with such love and the feeling is mutual…..

…..Thursday evening I was humbled and honored to receive the Taconic Region PTA Teacher of the Year Award.  It was a wonderful evening and I am so grateful to my PTA for their generosity and support all of these years.  I said that night (and I truly believe) that anything that I have been able to accomplish in my career has been as a result of a team effort and the support of administrators, colleagues, parents, students, and our community….I am grateful......

…..Friday was actually a snow day!  Well, a “give-back” snow day anyway.  We had one unused snow day and so we were given Friday off.  It was a terrific way to begin the Memorial Day Weekend!  Thank you to all who have served…….

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.