The Best Parts of My Week: 1/3/17--1/6/17

 Hi everyone,

While the holiday break was great, it was time to get back to work!  I talked last week about my upcoming retirement and so I began this week with an acute sense of time and decided to work hard to enjoy every day!  

…..When I arrive in the morning there is usually a before school day care group at school and sometimes they use the gym to play.  They have been taught to greet me with an enthusiastic “Good Morning!”, which I always return with just as much enthusiasm!  This week was no different and when I arrived on the first day after vacation, the group greeted me.  Then, one of the first graders asked me if Santa brought me anything for Christmas!  I was caught off guard by the question because usually students tell me what Santa brought them.  This student was interested and so I was happy to tell her that Santa had indeed come to my house and left me some wonderful gifts!

…...I was teaching our kindergarten and first grade students about the concept of objects rolling and I started by showing them the word.  Most could read it and that did not really surprise me at this time of year.  Next, I asked students to tell me what kinds of things roll.  The first few answers were what you would expect these students to say.  They responded with ball, hula hoop, basketball, soccer ball, etc.  One response, however, was quite unusual.  A kindergarten student raised her hand and answered:  “cylinder!”  I was so surprised I said:  “Whaaaat?  Are you sure you are a kindergartner?”  She smiled and then one of the aides told me that they were learning about cylinders in class that morning!  I thought for a quick second and said that I thought I had a cylinder to show them.  It was a foam bowling pin shaped like a cylinder.  All students agreed it was indeed a cylinder and then I rolled it across the gym just to be sure!  I had fun later telling her teacher that what had been taught in the classroom transferred to the gymnasium.  I don’t think I learned about cylinders until I took geometry in high school!  

…..The object of the rolling lesson was to have students work with a partner to explore rolling many different objects.  At the end of the lesson I asked students to share differences that they found between objects.  The responses were great!  Students talked about the sizes and shapes of the objects as well as what the objects were made of and how that changed how they rolled.  One student explained that a yarn ball rolled slower and a coated nerf ball rolled faster because it was smoother!  These were terrific mind and body connections!

…..I love to chat with students as they are coming and going in the morning during arrival and in the afternoon during dismissal when I can.  More often than not I am greeted with random hugs or reports of activities or healthy choices.  This week I passed a first grader on the way to breakfast.  She spontaneously said:  ”I’m going to eat healthy foods!”  I asked:  “What are you going to eat?”  Her response:  “vitamins!”

…..So many students received Fitbits or other activity trackers for Christmas gifts!  Many students were so excited to show me!  Could we be making some progress as we fight the childhood obesity crisis?  I sure hope so!  

…..I was finishing up castle ball with a group that had not had the chance to play prior to vacation.  One of the aides in the class noticed that as I was making a castle to teach a group that had not played yet one of the students showed a wide-eyed face and gave me a thumbs up! I guess he recognized that making the castle can be a challenge!  

…..A fifth grade class playing castle ball impressed me so much this week as they helped each other build castles without being asked……..

…..I delivered Physical Eddie to a fourth grade classroom one morning so that they could take care of him for a few weeks.  They were very excited but not all students had arrived yet.  I saw a student from the class in the hallway a few minutes later.  I asked him if he noticed that Physical Eddie was in his classroom.  He said:  “Of course I saw him…….everyone is mentioning him!  A little while later they were lining up for PE class and I was waiting in the doorway to the gymnasium.  Their classroom is just down the hallway from the gymnasium.  As they emerged from their classroom I heard someone say:  “Don’t forget Eddie!”  They brought him to PE and we had great fun with him!  We were enjoying Ben Pirillo’s “Would You Rather” warm-up! Basketball Betty enjoyed it too!

…….Later in the day I was in the hallway during dismissal and one of the students in that same classroom walked by me and said:  “Physical Eddie is HEALTHY!”

…...As I announced to my classes that we would be getting ready for Jump Rope for Heart I heard a chorus of “YESSSSSSS!!!!!....”  It is my favorite time of year as we get ready for the event by learning about and practicing jumping and and rope jumping skills.  Students truly want to do good for others and this event is a great opportunity to do just that.  Our school teaches students that we do Jump Rope for Heart because it is the right thing to do to help others who might not have hearts as healthy as we do and because it helps us learn how to get and keep a healthy heart.  I had a great time introducing this year’s American Heart Association JRFH theme - The Zoo Crew!  This is a theme that is right up my alley and fits right in with our fitness bears and our school theme of courage since the leader of the Zoo Crew is a lion named Rory Mc Fiercely III.  One of my third grade students even asked if I created it!  What a nice compliment!

www.heart.org/jump

…..Recently I decided that on Fitness Friday I would invite myself to a different classroom each week and do an activity with students (with the teacher’s permission of course!).  I have been welcomed each week by students and teachers and it has been quite fun!  This week I went to a second grade classroom and since it was a surprise they were so excited to find out why I was in their classroom!  We had a fantastic time doing some Go Noodle!

…..At the end of the day on Friday the students were on their way to their busses.  A student stopped to tell me that he had been cleared to participate in PE.  He had the biggest smile on his face!  He had been waiting for a very long time to be cleared and it has been quite a challenge to be sidelined (I completely understand….). I was so happy that we did double high fives!  It was a great way to end the week!

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.