The Best Parts of My Week 4/20/15--4/24/15

Hi everyone,
     Some weeks the big events dominate the "Best Parts" but this week it was the little moments that captured my attention, and in many ways my heart......

.....As school began one morning I heard some noise in the hallway outside of the gymnasium.  I went out to investigate and found a student that needed some guidance.  As I was walking with him back to the place that he was supposed to be (rather than the place I found him...) he said:  "You live in the gym right?"  While this is not the first time I have been asked this question, he said it with such conviction that it was meant as a statement rather than a question!  I explained to him that while I spent a lot of time in the gymnasium, I actually live in a house, just like he does.  He seemed to understand the clarification and went on his merry way!

.....I have a goal chart in my gymnasium that I use every day to post learning goals, essential questions, exit questions, and picture clues to help students focus on what learning should be taking place.  Not only does the chart help me focus on the lesson, but it also creates a "print rich" environment for students.  I had a kindergarten class that was working on striking skills and one group was near the goal chart as they were working with noodles and balloons.  Recently the warm-up included some leaping and a task card with pictures of the stages of leaping was clipped to the goal chart.  As a student was practicing his striking skills I noticed him looking at the task card and earnestly practicing each stage of the leap!  Learning happens in different times and spaces......Mission accomplished!

.....As elementary students my classes do not change for PE class.  However, one of the challenges that I face (and I am sure many others) is having students unprepared for PE class by not wearing sneakers.  I send home reminders and I have a sneaker box for students to borrow from but I am always happier when students have their own sneakers to wear.  This week one of my students who had trouble remembering sneakers wore sneakers to PE.  She arrived with a big smile and said:  "I finally remembered my sneakers!"  She was proud of herself and so was I!

.....As my primary students finished up a unit learning about striking skills I noticed that many had really improved their skills.  This week several students showed me creative tricks that they invented, and one kindergarten student even told me how she could use her favorite hand and her not so favorite hand!  At the end of each class I asked students to tell a friend if they were getting better and how they knew it.  I was very impressed with the responses that I listened to as well as those responses that were shared with me.  Many students used the count of consecutive hits as evidence of improvement and other used successful target hits as evidence.  How smart is that?  These are kindergarten, first, and second grade students after all!

....Speaking of practicing and improvement, my upper elementary students are working on fitness challenges and are warming up with jump ropes.  This week many students were proud to show me their progress on their partner and triple group rope tricks!

.....As small groups of students are working with me on the fitness challenges, others are choosing from a variety of activities.  Our essential question is:  "What does being a good sport look like and feel like?"  One of the games that students can choose from is a "Striker Sheet" game.  Basically it is a six-sided goal game with cloth flags attached to cones as goals.  Students must hit a ball with their hands to score and can defend any attempt at scoring.  This is a very exciting game and my students love to play.  Sometimes the enthusiasm gets the best of them and they need some reminders about sportsmanship.  I saw great progress in this regard this week as students worked so hard to be kind and good sports regardless of the situation in the game.  

.....At the end of the week I allowed my primary classes something called "Freedom with responsibility" while participating in striking skill stations.  I always tell students that the freedom part is easy because you are allowed to choose your activity and play freely but the responsibility part is harder because you need to be sure to do the right thing and move safely when changing activities.  Most groups take the responsibility seriously and enjoy the freedom tremendously.  I rarely use this approach with kindergarten but I have a group this year that I believed could handle it.  They did not disappoint!  I often tell this group that they are the "best fifth grade class that I have ever had!"  They know I am joking but they still remind me every time I say it that they are kindergartners!  It makes me smile every time!  

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 4/13/15--4/17/15

Hi everyone,
     When I think about all of the "Best Parts" for this week I wonder how it all fit in just one week! 

.....Monday morning my very first class was arriving as the announcements were being finished.  As they were listening they heard that their class had won the Big Shoe Award.  They were so happy they called out YAY!!  The Big Shoe Award is given to the class that has 100% of students wearing sneakers for PE the most.  This class has been struggling to get to 100% and it was so nice to see that they were happy about their progress!  

.....Fitness Frankie to Go came back right on time on Monday morning and had his first adventures after Spring Break.  I have two Fitness Frankie to Go packs that go home on Fridays for a weekend adventure with students.  This idea came about after the original Fitness Frankie became so popular that students asked to take him home!  This week Fitness Frankie in both packs had scooter riding adventures!

.....It was finally warm this week after a VERY long winter.  One of my first grade students had shorts on during PE and commented on it as I was walking by.  He said:  "I'm wearing gym shorts!  It's a perfect day to wear gym shorts!"  He was so excited that his outfit matched his specials schedule!

.....I am in my 32nd year of teaching and all of those years have been in the same school.  I still absolutely love my job and feel privileged to have been in a school long enough to see students grow up.  One of my former students came back this week to meet with me regarding his Eagle Scout project.  He wants to give back to the PE program at North Park by creating a project to benefit the health and wellness of our students.  I am overwhelmed at his generosity and sense of community and am so excited to work with him on this project!

.....I have some wonderful opportunities to meet other PE professionals as a result of conferences, my website, Twitter, articles I have written, and through friends and colleagues.  This week I was happy to have two young professionals from a neighboring district come and visit my program.  The energy between teachers who always want to learn and improve is infectious!  We had a great time talking about different ideas and lessons and I was proud (and a little nervous to be honest) to have them observe a few of my classes.  Of course, I used my disclaimer line:  "Every day is not a presentation".  While they laughed at the line, I wanted them to know that the reality of teaching is that it is sometimes hard and rarely perfect.  They agreed and appreciated the successful but "real world" lesson that they observed.  My students had a great time showing our visitors what North Park PE is all about and I hope to reciprocate and visit them soon!

.....While a kindergarten student was working on his striking skill with a lollipop paddle and a small foam filled ball he said:  "Never give up!'  I asked him what happens when you keep practicing and he told me that you get better.  Of course he is right and I am so glad that he knows that at such a young age!  

.....My students in the upper grades worked on the PACER fitness challenge this week.  Most were very excited and some were a little worried about doing their best.  I encouraged students to do their best and asked those who were counting laps to be very quiet so that the runners could hear the beeps.  I asked students to save their compliments until the end and they were terrific!  When it was time to switch groups the high fives and compliments made my heart smile.......

.....We have a group of students who come to school early and are cared for by an outside agency.  This group uses the gymnasium on most mornings so that students can be active.  I am happy to see the students beginning the day with activity!  Most of the time I am setting up for the day around the activity and very often the students help me with the set up.  At the end of the week I had some push-up tester pads out on the sidelines ready for the day.  I left to do some work and when I came back both students and their care takers were using the push-up testers to practice their push-ups!  It was great to see adults and students exercising together!  

.....The week ended with Family Fitness Night on Friday night.  Students and their families came to school to participate in physical activity and learn about healthy choices together.  It is an annual event that I started a few years ago with a grant from Fuel Up to Play 60.  Anything that is worth doing is, of course, worth doing well and so this event takes a considerable amount of work to plan, set-up, and run.  I have been planning it for a few months and was excited for the evening to begin.  I had so much help!  My colleagues, principal, former student teacher, and parent volunteers all came together to make the evening successful.  Families bowled together, played a physical activity based board came called Let's Move in School by Skillastics, practiced golf putting challenges, used heart rate monitors and stethoscopes, learned about healthy food with a My Plate Bingo game, and were treated to a healthy snack of sweet potato chips and/or granola that was made by a parent who is a chef at the Culinary Institute of America.  As a result of my membership in, and the generosity of, the Southeastern Zone of NYS AHPERD, I was able to send students and families home with a variety of materials advocating for quality Health and Physical Education.  It was so great to see families enjoying the activities together.  I had some terrific conversations with parents, former students, colleagues, current students, and even a few future students!  I am truly fortunate to be able to create and promote this kind of event and have the support of so many.  When I got home, I looked at my pedometer......26,177 steps for the day!  My sister was visiting for the weekend and asked how I could possibly get that many steps in one day!  It took me quite a while to explain!  

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 4/6/15--4/10/15

Hi everyone,
     We had a wonderful Spring Break but it was great to get back to school!  It was such a busy week that at the end of the week I felt like we had been back for two weeks instead of one!

.....The week began with a group of staff playing in the gym.  Let me explain.  As a reward for student participation in Read Across America, the staff is putting together a video.  Scenes have been filmed in every part of the school!  For the gymnasium scene I invited the staff to come and play with chickens, gorillas, parachutes, pigs, and more!  It was so much fun no one wanted to leave!  Everyone agreed that it was a great way to start the week and asked if they could do it again!  Oh, by the way students don't know about all of the scenes that we have filmed so .......Shhhhhhh.......It's a secret!

.....As students returned to school I asked if they had been active during vacation.  A fifth grade student told me that he had the most "Fitnessy" vacation ever!  He explained that he and his family and friends took walks and were very active!

.....I love music and I always have some kind of music playing when students are being active.  This week the music I chose encouraged all kinds of dancing, even when dancing was not the primary objective!

.....I had a terrific discussion with a fifth grade class about food labels early in the week as we finished up our unit on nutrition activities.  Fifth graders participated in an activity that I call Food Label Frenzy.  They run and pick up food cards that have actual portion sizes and a food label on the back of the card.  One of my students told me that even McDonald's has food labels on their bags now.  We all agreed that it was great information and would help us to make healthy choices!

.....Third grade students played a game I call Nutrition Tag.  Half of the students are "it" and attempt to tag as many people as possible.  Those who are not "it" have cards with questions about nutrition.  When tagged, they must ask a question of the "it".  If the question is answered correctly, the "it" gets to keep the card.  If the question is answered incorrectly, students are encouraged to "teach" the correct answer so that learning is always happening.  Students who need more cards come to me.  As I was observing the class, I overheard a student tell another student who had not gotten the question correctly say:  "Nice try, though."  That statement made me smile!

.....This week I renamed the Physical Fitness Test.  Students (and adults) can have such anxiety over testing so I decided to explain to the students that we would no longer be calling it a test.  Instead, it will be called the Physical Fitness Challenge.  I wanted students to understand that the value in completing these "challenges" (I almost typed "tests".....) is the knowledge that can be gained, the goals that can be made and achieved, and the purpose of Physical Fitness as a lifelong journey.  I was pretty impressed at how students received this approach.  Many agreed that tests make them worry and liked the idea of a challenge!

.....The PE Password is in the hallway in different locations so that students can be exposed to PE vocabulary even when they are not in PE.  In addition to the word and picture clues, I include a QR code that gives information about the word.  Students scan the code during PE and discuss the word as part of our lesson for the day.  This week our band teacher came into the gymnasium to show me that he scanned the QR code and learned all about Carbohydrates!  It came about as a student was looking at the word in the hallway and needed some help to read it.  He stepped right in.  Now that is absolutely fantastic!  

.....In the middle of the week I had an amazing opportunity.  I met with the staff of one of our state senators to advocate for some legislation regarding quality Physical Education and Health Education that is currently being considered.  It was my first time advocating in this capacity and I must say I was more than a little nervous.  At the same time it was exhilarating!  

.....I have a sneaker box with gently used sneakers available for students who need them.  This week a student came to the gymnasium with a bag.  He said:  "Carbohydrates" (the PE Password) and then opened the bag to show me some sneakers he was ready to donate!

.....Students in the primary grades are beginning to practice striking skills with a variety of equipment.  We always start with balloons and the students were so excited to practice!  Who doesn't like playing with a balloon?  It was hard asking them to stop practicing when it was time to go back to class!  

.....At the end of the week a class of fourth grade students were getting ready to a PE Pack home for the weekend.  This pack includes a pedometer, jump rope, and log card and encourages students to exercise at home.  They were so excited!  I can't wait to see how many steps they logged and add that data to my website! 

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 3/23/15--3/27/15

Hi everyone,
     After an amazing trip to Seattle to attend and present at the SHAPE America National Convention I was ready to get back to school!  It was a great week!

.....Fitness Frankie had a great time in Seattle!  Visit his blog to read about and see pictures of his adventure!  

.....I was greeted by several classes with a "Yay....you're back!"  What a nice welcome!  It was nice to be missed......

.....Whenever I go to a conference I remember what one of my friends always says about conference days.  She always says:  "Learn one new thing".  I did that and more this past week in Seattle and tried out one of the new activities that I learned.  It actually involved throwing and catching (play) food!  Since we were celebrating National Nutrition Month with some nutrition activities it was perfect timing.  We made some fruit salad and vegetable salad with play food, bean bags, buckets, and parachute panels.  It was great fun but I remembered to make a disclaimer:  "Don't try this at home please!"

.....I continue to be impressed and surprised by what my kindergarten and first grade students can read and discuss.  This week students were asked about the words digestion and balanced diet.  Not only could they read the words but many could tell me what they meant!  

.....My student teacher finished his time at my school and is off to another school to continue his student teaching.  I always like to do some kind of thank you from the students and very often try to connect it to something unique about each student teacher's experience.  In this case, we are doing a "broccoli jar of thank you notes".  While it is a long story, suffice it to say that students learned about the nutritional value of broccoli and how putting your hand in the broccoli jar to after shooting a basketball will help with your follow through!  Anyway, it turns out that we have a broccoli puppet at school and I had so much fun this week with "Broccoli Brad!"  He did warm-ups with us, gave students a high five at the end of class, and taught students about how great broccoli actually is!  When I explained to my students how we were going to say thank you to our student teacher one of my third graders responded:  "That is awesome!"  I love puppets so this was right up my alley!

.....When students reset their pedometer they are asked to show a friend that the pedometer is reset to 0 so that they have an accurate step count.  One of my fifth grade students came to me this week to show me that his pedometer was reset.  He said: "You're my friend!"  How nice is that?

.....Nutrition activities continued at the end of the week with a game of Nutrition Tag.  Students used nutrition cards to ask questions when tagged.  If the tagger answered the question correctly he/she collected the card.  It was a new activity and the students had so much fun!  I was impressed by how much the students learned about nutrition based on the number of cards that were collected!  

......I had some great conversations this week with my students.  Most of these discussions did not happen during PE class but rather during bus duty, in the hallway, or at the end of the day waiting for a parent.  The conversations ranged from one student telling me about his grandfather who was sick but doing better, to another asking how my trip to Seattle was, to others telling me how they exercised after school, and still others telling me about their spring break plans.  I enjoyed every single conversation and am always touched that students take the time to include me in their conversations.....

.....The week ended with "Pajama Day" and "Mystery Reader Day" to celebrate our Read Across America Program.  Even though it was a bit of a silly and crazy day it was fun!  I was able to visit every classroom to take pictures during the Mystery Reader activity to see different adults reading to students.  Fifth grade teachers read to kindergarten students, a third grade teacher came to the gymnasium to read to my fourth grade class, and kindergarten teachers were reading to third grade students!  Students were so engaged in listening to the book being read and every adult was having a great time!  

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 3/9/15--3/13/15

Hi everyone,
     There are some weeks when I wonder if I will have enough to write about (I always do......), and there are other weeks when there is so much to write about I don't know how to begin!  This past week was one of the latter.  It was an amazing week!  

.....I began the week counting up the total Healthy Highway miles that we have accumulated so far.  Students earn miles both individually and as a class for healthy choices during the year.  I am proud to say that we have traveled 947 miles so far this year!

......As I reminded students that we were getting ready for Jump Rope for Heart early this week, the response was YES!!!!!

.....One of my fifth grade students shared that she had been getting ready for Jump Rope for Heart by practicing at home!

.....Tuesday morning we began the day with a Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador meeting.  Students are earning points by making healthy choices and leading healthy plays and one of the students asked if we were going to do this next year.  When I responded that we were definitely going to continue the program I also asked if they were interested in continuing.  They responded enthusiastically with smiles, nodding heads, and YES!  I asked if any of their friends had asked about joining the program and several said that lots of their friends wanted to join and be an ambassador too!  Part of our meeting was spent in the cafeteria with our cafeteria manager asking some questions to complete our School Wellness Investigation.  Later in the week one of the ambassadors told me that she thought it was cool going to the cafeteria and learning about all of the healthy food that the cafeteria serves!

.....As we continued to get ready for Jump Rope for Heart by teaching students using a variety of jumping stations, one of our kindergarten students was jumping across a pretend river on the floor.  She said:  "This is tough but fun!"  A first grader said:  "I'm an Olympic jumper!"

.....Early in the week the PE Password was "Achievement".  We asked students to think about one of their achievements and share it with a friend.  The discussions were wonderful!  Students shared achievements big and small and were proud of each one!  

.....Several honor hearts came in with donations to be displayed during our Jump Rope for Heart event.  I was touched by the heartfelt messages on the hearts.  Many students were honoring family members that they have lost due to heart disease........

......Jump Rope for Heart was held on Wednesday and Thursday this week and during the two-day event all 500+ students and staff participated in the event.  It was a truly amazing two days and while I was exhausted at the conclusion of the event, I can't imagine not doing it.  This was our tenth year and I was so proud of our students, staff, and our community.  Students brought in change, honor hearts, and donations large and small.  One student even created his own fitness bear:  "Muscle Matt" and brought him to the event with a red hoodie and shorts!  Another student painted her nails red to show her support!  Each session began with a reminder that we do JRFH to help others who might not have a healthy heart by supporting the work of the American Heart Association as well as to keep our own hearts healthy.  Each session ended with smiles and tired students who jumped their best.  During the event I noticed a fifth grader making sure that a third grader had a fair turn, joy on the face of a first grader who jumped the most times in a row that he ever had jumped, teachers proud of the accomplishments of their students, the surprise on the faces of students who used stethoscopes and heard their own heartbeat for the first time, and pride as we unveiled this year's banner!

.....The day after Jump Rope for Heart I was chatting with one of my fourth grade students in the hallway and he said that he wished he could do Jump Rope for Heart again!  He said that he loved it!  Another student stopped me in the hallway to ask how much money we raised!  Donations are still coming in........

.....Thursday afternoon I was putting up the new PE Password in anticipation of "A" day on Friday.  Students were leaving for the day and were excited to have a "Sneak Peek!"  (P.S.  The new PE Password is "Traverse")

.....Friday we began some lessons regarding nutrition to celebrate National Nutrition Month.  I was so impressed with the nutrition knowledge that students have.  Even our kindergarten students knew about so many different fruits!  We had a great time pretending to eat a rainbow of fruits!  

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 2/23/15--2/27/15 AND 3/2/15-3/6/15

Hi everyone,
     It has been SO busy the last two weeks that I decided to combine two weeks of "Best Parts"!  I hope you enjoy!

.....The week before last I had some amazing opportunities to present at two different conferences.  The beginning of the week I spent in Long Branch, NJ at the NJAHPERD annual conference.  It was a fantastic conference with many wonderful Physical Educators, Health Educators, Dance Educators, and others willing to spend time advocating for quality Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance programs!  I presented three different sessions and was so grateful for those that attended and participated!  So many others were willing to help me with equipment, etc. and I felt so welcome!  Special thanks to the Executive Board of NJAHPERD for their hospitality!  At the end of the week I presented at the Nassau Zone of NYSAHPERD conference at LIU Post on Long Island, NY.  Again, I met so many wonderful professionals willing to learn and share!  It was a great week of professional development!

.....In between conferences last week we celebrated Heart Month at my school by offering "Hands Only" CPR and AED training for our fifth grade students.  Our local paramedic group volunteered their time and our building provided financial support for the educational materials for our students.  It was the first time that we were able to provide this training and I could not have been happier with the results!  The students were serious and focused and learned these important life skills!  At the end of the day students were asked what they learned and one student responded that they learned how to save a life.  It does not get any better than that!  Pictures of our event can be seen at the following link:  5th Grade CPR-AED Training at North Park.

This week was full of "Best Parts" too!  

.....We are getting ready for Jump Rope for Heart and this week spent some time working on jumping and jump roping stations.  Students are getting excited about our event as it is a highlight of the year.  One student remarked that he had heard that the stations help you get better at jumping!  Who knew??

.....Cardio Cal has had a terrific adventure with a fifth grade class for the last few weeks and this time some of the students wrote up his journal entry.  They read it to the class at the end of PE recently and it was amazing!  I was very impressed with the vocabulary and writing talent!  The students were very proud of their journal and so was I!  You can view the journal entry by clicking on this link:
Cardio Cal's 5th Grade Adventure!

.....I love to teach my kindergarten students to jump rope in a long turning rope for the first time.  Many think that they can't do it and when they are successful the joy on their faces is priceless!  I had the privilege of seeing that joy quite a bit this week!

.....After a fourth grade class this week I was invited to the classroom to see that the Go Noodle champ for the class had graduated to the next level.  It was very exciting and as students were getting out their snack for the day one student passed by me and showed me the spinach that she had for snack.  That's right - Spinach!  She was enjoying it and munching away and asked me for a high five because she had a healthy snack!  YES!  

.....Fitness Frankie to Go came back after weekend adventures of sledding and healthy eating!  He is having a great year!  I delivered him to this weekend's student hosts and they were so excited that it was their turn!

.....At the end of the week the entire school participated in an assembly to kick off our Read Across America program and to remind students that we are traveling down Have a Heart Way as we get ready for Jump Rope for Heart.  The second segment of the assembly involved pairing older and younger students together as Reading Buddies.  It was so heartwarming to see students engaged.  We are truly a community of learners and it was wonderful to see it in action......

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education

The Best Parts of My Week - 2/16/15--2/20/15

Hi everyone,
     I finally felt like I was back in the groove this week.  Aside from President's Day on Monday, we were in school every day on time and all day!  Once again, there were so many great moments to share!

.....Our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador group has come together so nicely this year.  This is the first year that we put together a group of students to be leaders and good examples of healthy choices for our Fuel Up to Play 60 program and while I had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish, I knew that it would be a year of learning and figuring out the best way to move forward.  The week began with a meeting before school with an amazing group of students eager to be leaders and work together.  We talked about the success of our Brain Break Week and then students entered the Physical Activity Play details on their FUTP60 dashboard after we brainstormed a list of reasons why we loved it.  We started to discuss the next project which will involve trying a new vegetable.  Students came up with a great list of vegetables to try:  kale, spinach, turnip, and even seaweed as in sushi!

.....Fitness Frankie to Go arrived back to school sporting a new shirt with a peace sign on it!  He went to ballet class, jazz class and had quite a bit of healthy food!

.....As a result of the generosity of a local paramedic group and support from our building principal, our fifth grade students will be participating in CPR awareness training next week.  This week I discussed this opportunity with our students and talked about the need for this important life skill.  One student shared that at some point in the future she will be taking a babysitting course that will include CPR training.  It was a great connection and I could see other students nodding along as they realized the potential value of this training.  This of course led to a discussion of babysitting in general and I shared that when I was a babysitter I earned $1.00 per hour!  They couldn't believe it!

.....I am absolutely loving a new app called Plickers.  I learned about this app on Twitter and it is amazing!  It allows me to ask a question and get immediate feedback from every student.  I used it this week with a fifth grade class and they seemed to like it too.   I can't wait to use it with more classes.  I love technology and when something like this comes along it makes me love technology even more!

.....The Science Fair was held at my school this week and I was not able to use the gymnasium for part of the day due to the location of the projects.  PE was held in the classroom for the morning classes and we had such a great time using Go Noodle!  One of the activity segments involves a simulated roller coaster and the inevitable screaming that happens when you ride one.  I'm not really a roller coaster kind of person so the virtual reality type was just fine for me!  Anyway, students were moving along to the music and screaming at the appropriate time.  Students were pretty good about keeping the noise in check but it was a bit loud.  Just as students were screaming at the appropriate time, the classroom teacher walked in.  I apologized for the noise but she smiled and said that she loved Go Noodle and they did this one all the time!  

.....The Science Fair day includes an evening session during which students and families come back to school to view the projects.  This year the event included some Science activities that students and families could participate in.  One of the activities was a QR Code scavenger hunt and Physical Eddie was one of the scavenger hunt items!  He was very excited to be asked and many students and families found him in the library.  He was happy to be found!

.....The week ended with primary students creating pathways using a variety of equipment.  Students have been learning about the importance of moving in straight, curved, and zig zag pathways and have been making connections between pathways, and letters, designs, movement, and shapes.  One of my second grade classes made the words PE out of bowling pins!  They wanted to make PE Rocks, but did not have enough pins!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"  To find out more about the PE program at North Park, visit my website:  North Park Physical Education