The Best Parts of My Week 11/21/11-11/25/11

Hi everyone,
   It was a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday and Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I am always asking my students to show their "Attitude of Gratitude" so I thought I would show my gratitude this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving and pause to give thanks......
I am thankful for.....

.....the 50th day of school during which we celebrated with a 50's style Sock Hop!

.....the amazing colleagues that I have the pleasure of working with every day.

.....the hard working, curious, funny, talented, smart, helpful, caring students that I have the good fortune to be able to teach every day.

.....a wonderful gymnasium to teach in.

.....beautiful fields to play on.

.....terrific equipment to use that provides great learning experiences for my students.

.....a loving family that supports me in my work.

.....technology that I love to use every day!

.....a supportive administration that believes in the importance of Physical Education!

.....Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie!

.....Healthy Highway!

.....the many PE professionals that I have met on my journey.

.....the opportunity to learn and grow every day!!!

Thanks for reading about the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Learn more about our PE program by visiting the North Park PE Website!

The Best Parts of My Week 11/14/11--11/18/11

Hi everyone,
     It was a week of challenges and triumphs.......and my friends and family supported me during both!

.....I spent most of the week at the NYS AHPERD Conference.  This conference is held annually and is a wonderful chance to learn new things and to grow professionally.  I was thrilled to be able to present several sessions at this conference with colleagues and I am always happy to meet new people and learn from their experiences as well.  This conference was special because I was honored to be receiving an award from NYS AHPERD.  From the beginning of the conference I felt welcome and special.  I had great fun with Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie at the conference too!  Everyone who meets them loves them!  They are truly ambassadors for healthy choices!  At the end of the conference, my friends and my family - my Pit Crew - helped me celebrate.  In fact, my two best friends surprised me by coming to the dinner unannounced!  It was an amazing surprise!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website  and the new North Park PE Website for more information about our program!

The Best Parts of My Week 11/7/11-11/11/11

Hi everyone,
    I hope you enjoy reading about the Best Parts of My Week!  I would love to hear about yours!  E-mail me at northparkpe@yahoo.com!

.....I was discussing cooperation with my younger students and I asked them how they should react when their partner makes a mistake.  One student raised his hand and said:  "We should help them".........wouldn't it be great if we all reacted that way?  It was a great opportunity to reinforce the idea that good teammates help each other learn......

.....One day this week I heard a spontaneous reaction from a student on the way in to PE class:  "I LOVE GYM!"  It made me smile!

.....Recently the NYC Marathon was held.  One of my students was very proud that his dad had run in the marathon and he was thrilled to tell me about it.  He actually brought in his dad's medal to show me!

.....I had a great opportunity to attend and present at the SEZ of NYS AHPERD Election Day conference this week.  I am so fortunate to be able to participate in some wonderful professional development during the year.  It's always a great chance to meet some passionate professionals and to learn some new ideas!  I can't wait to try out some of the new things I learned!  Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie attended too!  They were a hit!

.....The weather here in the Northeast has been unusually warm lately.  I took some of my classes outside this week and I was suddenly struck by how beautiful our play area is and how lucky we are to have such great spaces to play and work in!

.....I was walking in the hallway and met up with some students who asked how many steps I had on my pedometer so far.  I tell my students that I wear my pedometer all week and like to get a weekly total so I do not reset it until Monday morning.  When I told my students how many steps I had walked so far this week they looked surprised so I also said:  "I move a lot!"  One of the students replied with a smile:  "I can see that!"

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website  and the new North Park PE Website for more information about our program!

Visit a preview of the new North Park PE website!

"The Best Parts of My Week" 10/31/11-11/4/11

Hi everyone,
     We started the week in October and now it's already November!  Our school is "traveling" down Pride Path and we are encouraging our students to take "Pride" in everything they do........I am so proud of my students as they show me that they have the "Courage to do the right thing"!

.....As my fifth graders were playing a game in partnerships, I noticed one student shake hands and wish each new partner "Good Luck"!

.....I played a cooperative game called Moon Ball with my fifth graders this week.  This game requires students to work together to keep a special balloon ball up in the air with as many hits as possible in a row.  In my many years of playing this game, I have never seen the cooperation, teamwork, fairness, and communication that one class in particular showed during this game.  It was absolutely amazing!

.....At the end of the day, one student took the time to ask me "And how was your day today?"

.....After school one day this week three former students came to visit!  As one of the students entered the gymnasium, he said "I told you I would come back to visit!"  It was great to see them!

.....One of the activities we played this week involved students acting as different objects and animals.  One of the levels in the game required students to act as eggs.  While giving directions, I cautioned the students to be careful and move safely around their classmates.  I said that we did not want to see any "scrambled eggs"!  They (well, most) laughed!

.....We have a great opportunity to use pedometers on a daily basis with my students in grades 3-5.  I smiled when I noticed that one of my students wears his own pedometer on a daily basis too!

.....I happened to be in the office when two kindergarten students came in to drop off the "North Park EZ-PASS" that they had earned during recess.  This pass is given for good behavior and allows students to go to the front of the line for lunch in the cafeteria.  These students were all smiles and very proud of themselves!  I was too and showed my pride with a "high five"!

.....While getting milk for my lunch this week I was in the cafeteria line when a kindergarten student chose carrots instead of noodles when asked by the cafeteria staff.  I was proud of his choice and told him that carrots were a healthy choice.  He was proud too!

.....At the end of the week my kindergarten students were working together to build towers using foam bricks.  These towers are built with one student holding the base of the tower while another student builds on top of the base.  The towers inevitably fall and we talk about how good teammates react in those situations.  I was reminded of the pure joy of play when one of my students laughed the biggest "belly laugh" I have heard in quite awhile each time the tower fell.  I could not help but laugh myself!

I hope you enjoyed the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website for more information about our program!

Visit a preview of the new North Park PE website!