The Best Parts of My Week - 12/15/14--12/19/14

Hi everyone,
     It was a wonderful and busy holiday spent with family and friends so I am a little late with this posting of the Best Parts of My Week.  Nevertheless, it was a great week and I am happy to share the "Best Parts" with you!

.....The week began with an annual event to help others called the "Pageant for Peace".  Students and adults bring in food for those in need in our own school community and then we sing a variety of songs as a group.  It was started many years ago and is such a wonderful and charitable event.  In fact, our Healthy Highway road this month is called Charity Way and we have been encouraging our students to help so that others have enough.  Many families come to the event and this year I noticed that some of the family members in attendance had been students who had participated in the event when they were children!  How cool is that?

.....The week continued with an energetic Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador meeting!  We came up with a plan to increase classroom activity breaks and our ambassadors are ready to lead the way!  We ended the meeting with a few activities from Go Noodle.  During a warm-up activity, one of the athletes mentioned that your body is like a car and you need to take care of it and put good fuel in to get good performance.  One of the students said:  "Hey, you say that too!"  This made me smile because it means our Healthy Highway program is working!

.....Cardio Cal spent some time in a fourth grade class recently and one of the students in the class took him home during the Thanksgiving break.  She wrote a four page story about his adventures and this week she shared it with me!  

.....While I was in the Library working one morning during my prep time a student working on a project came over to ask me how many steps I had on my pedometer so far that day!  I am always happy to share my step count.  It helps me to set a good example and "practice what I preach".

.....One of my primary students had a birthday this week.  He brought in fruit kabobs and shared one with me.  He even helped to make them!  They were delicious and his healthy birthday treat earned a mile for his class!  

.....In support of the Common Core and learning that is happening in the classroom, I have increased the number and scope of the vocabulary words that I teach and reinforce during PE class.  One of those "teachable moments" happened this week with a first grade class when I was talking about the number of muscles that we have.  That discussion led to the number of bones we have and before I could even tell this class that they have 206 bones they told me!  Can you believe that first graders know this?  I was surprised and proud at the same time!

.....Our school was treated to a Winter Concert during this week before vacation.  I am always impressed with the musical talent of our students and our music staff!  The orchestra, band, and choral groups were truly wonderful!  It was obvious that a tremendous amount of perseverance and practice went into their performances!

.....The week ended with our traditional Winter Workshop Day.  This always occurs during the last day before winter vacation.  Students participate in four one hour workshops during the day that are led by teachers, administrators, and parents.  Some of the workshops included chess, healthy snack making, crafts, art, weaving, basketball, speed stacking, music, computer games, and circus arts and much, much more.  In fact, over thirty different workshops are offered during the day!  A colleague of mine and I organize the circus arts workshop and we had a terrific day!  We taught students how to juggle, spin plates, use angel sticks, balance feathers and other objects, and even walk on stilts!  I got to practice my diablo skills and for the first time ever actually caught the diablo!  It was a perfect time to remind students about the value of perseverance!  It was a day full of laughter, challenges, smiles, and accomplishments and it was a great way to end the week!  

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 - 12/8/14--12/12/14

Hi everyone,
     It was a week of starts and stops as the weather in the Northeast began to look a lot more like winter!  As a result of ice and snow we had one snow day and one delay this week and technically it is not even winter yet!  Still, there were some great moments!

.....Fitness Frankie to Go came back on Monday after having some holiday adventures!  He helped to cut down a Christmas tree after a hike with one student and exercised, had a healthy dinner, and met some grandparents with another!  Not only are students taking photographs to include in his journal, but they are also writing about the adventures to go in the journal as well!  

.....Primary students began to practice throwing skills playing a game called "Clean Up Your Backyard".  This is a classic game and one that I have played for many years.  This game has been enhanced by a book of the same title written by a creative and talented PE professional - Lynn Hefele - through her company called LEPE - Literature Enhanced Physical Education.  The book sets up the game and reinforces good throwing techniques with a great story and surprising ending!  I read the book this week to my students and they were so excited!  The basic premise of the game is that students clean up their own backyard by throwing "garbage" over a fence into a neighbor's backyard.  Now of course, this is a story and students are told that this is only a pretend game.  When asked where garbage is supposed to be put they all know that it should be thrown in garbage cans and recycle bins.  I use baskets to store the balls and at the end of the game students actually clean up by putting the balls back in the baskets.  One of my kindergarten classes decided to actually clean up during the game.  I did not realize this at first but then I started wondering where all of the balls had gone because it seemed that there were not enough for the game.  I finally discovered that they were already being put in the baskets before the game ended! Students had so much fun playing and their throwing skills are getting better already!  

.....Recently,  I have been supporting learning that is going on in the classroom by including some of the new NYS Domain vocabulary words for first grade in my PE classes.  This week the two words that I  had on display were "muscles" and "voluntary".  Before I even had a chance to ask how these two words are connected, one of my first graders gave a wonderful description of what voluntary and involuntary muscles are!  I am quite sure that I did not know that when I was in first grade!

.....I absolutely love the "WHOA!" effect.  This is the reaction that students exhibit when they arrive at the gymnasium and see what is set up for their class.  I had the pleasure of this reaction many times this week as students in the upper grades were beginning to play small group games in Volleyball with a variety of different balls and court set-ups and my primary students were playing "Clean Up Your Backyard" and balloons filled with helium were ready to be used as targets!  

.....Sometimes the little moments and small gestures are the once that touch my heart the most.  I received a handmade sign this week from one of my students.  She is one of our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassadors and she made me a Fuel Up to Play 60 sign for my office door!  

 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 - 12/1/14-12/5/14

Hi everyone,
    How did we end up in December already?  As we began the week one of my colleagues pointed out that there were only 15 school days until the Winter Break!  She then added that this fact was both exciting and terrifying at the same time since there is much to do and not much time to do it!   That being said, it was a busy and exciting week!

.....My primary students have been exploring different levels and I like to culminate the activity with a series of stations that use different levels and a variety of equipment.  When a first grade class arrived at the door one student walked in with a smile and said:  "Thank you for making this!"  As the students completed the stations, one student increased the distance he was standing from a target at a high level and said:  "I'm challenging myself!"  

.....Students in the primary grades are learning vocabulary words that connect with work that the students are learning in their classroom related to the NYS Common Core.  This week's words were "healthy" and "exercising".  One first grade student pointed out that those words are connected because one leads to the other.  What a smart student! 

....I recently made some posters to illustrate the NYS Learning Standards for Physical Education and I asked my fourth and fifth grade students to read them and pick out something important to share.  I was impressed with their conversations!  They made some meaningful connections as to how our program meets the standards!

.....Fitness Frankie to Go is off on another weekend adventure!  The student taking him home this weekend said:  "I know it will be a healthy adventure!  Another student suggested that Fitness Frankie could be put next to an apple and then she could draw or take a picture of that scene!  I can't wait to see how his adventure went!

......I love to use music in my program.  I believe in the power of music to motivate the students and this week that was proven again as one of my quietest students was dancing away as the music played!

.....I also love technology!  This week I began to use a great app called Comic Life.  It is wonderful and began to use it to do some simple assessments with students learning volleyball and others learning about levels.  As students completed the assessment I was able to truly see what they had learned and what they still needed to know.  I am looking forward to using it more and more!



 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: 11/25-11/26

Hi everyone,
     Yes - the dates on this blog reflect only two days!  It was a short week as we did not have school Wednesday-Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Monday and Tuesday were only half days for students as parents and families came to school for report card conferences.  It has been a wonderful break and I am ready to begin December!  Even so, there were some special moments last week that I would like to share as the "Best Parts of My Week".....

.....During Monday afternoon I created a bulletin board in the hallway with pictures of our recent cooperative unit.  The theme of this bulletin board is "Why PE?" and in September I asked third grade students to contribute their thoughts.  I decided to continue the theme and add approximately 80 pictures as an answer to the question.  I did not anticipate the interest in the bulletin board!  I immediately noticed parents stopping in the hallway looking at the pictures and smiling!  The next morning, students were doing the same as they looked for themselves in the pictures!

.....My upper elementary students are learning about the sport of volleyball.  As they have been learning  different skills, I have asked students to work in groups of three.  One of the three has been assigned the role of "Coach".  The coach's job is to watch students performing a task and identify when students use specific cues and complete the skill correctly.  I have been very proud of our "Coaches"!  They have embraced their role and have been a positive influence in helping their friends learn correct techniques! When I asked the students if it helped them to know that a coach was watching them practice they said yes!

.....After a class that had completed some Volleyball skill stations this week one student exclaimed:  "That was really fun!  I think I dreamed that I played Volleyball!"

.....Each year I challenge my fifth grade students to be the best at the PE Password program.  I explain that a fifth grade class a few years back embraced the program so well that they told me the PE Password every chance they got, even if it was not during PE class.  This year's fifth grade has taken this challenge to heart!  One fifth grade class in particular passed by the gym and without knowing if I was in there or not, each student said the PE Password loud and clear as they walked by!  

.....I have been enjoying the success of our Fitness Frankie to Go program this year!  Students and families have been so supportive and the healthy adventures have been wonderful! This week the Fitness Frankie to Go packs came back with terrific pictures and stories of a variety of healthy adventures from bicycle riding to healthy food choices!

.....As students left school on Tuesday for the Thanksgiving break there were so many smiles and wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all!  I could not be more thankful for my school!

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 - 11/17/14--11/21/14

Hi everyone,
     While we are reminded at this time of year to be thankful, it is easy to forget about all of the things - big and little - that we should be thankful for all year long.....I am so thankful for so much professionally and personally.  I ask my students to show their "attitude of gratitude" and I am going to attempt to practice what I preach every single day.......

.....We celebrated the 50th Day of School this week!  Our primary students and teachers dressed up as if it were the 1950's and at the end of the day I organized a Sock Hop in the gym.  It is a wonderful tradition and this year did not disappoint!  Students and adults were so enthusiastic as we danced the Twist, Hand Jive, Lollipop Dance, and even worked on our hula hoop skills!  We are so thankful to be able to continue this tradition.  Our administration believes in the positive connection between physical activity and academic achievement and fully supports these special and creative projects.  I am grateful..... 

.....As part of our efforts to create a healthy environment, we encourage students to bring healthier alternatives to birthday cupcakes when they celebrate a birthday at school.  This week one of my students brought in the most wonderful treat!  It was a basket of bananas and each banana had a small party hat!  Each banana was decorated with a cute face and the basket also contained just the right amount of dark chocolate to accompany each banana!  How amazing is that?

.....Our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador program is going well!  We have a great group of students and this week they were so helpful with our "Stuff the Bus" program.  Students and families were asked to donate items for our local food pantry in anticipation of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Our Student Ambassadors "adopted" a younger classroom to help with this task and many times this week I saw the ambassadors using teamwork to carry donated items to the bus!

.....As I work on my questioning techniques (a building wide goal this year) I began to use a poster that has three statements:  What I know, What I want to know, What I learned.  While this technique may not be knew to the classroom, it is new to me and I was excited to try it out.  Since we are just beginning a unit on volleyball, I asked my students to talk to a friend about what they already know about volleyball as well as what they want to know about volleyball.  I was so impressed with the responses! Not only did students know more than I thought, they were very thoughtful about what they wanted to know.  Some wanted to know about the history of volleyball, others wanted to know about the rules and skills necessary to play, and still others wanted to know about the referee's hand signals, what the ball is made of, and what team rankings mean!  

.....I had an amazing professional opportunity this week as I attended and presented at the NYS AHPERD Annual Convention in Verona, NY.  I am fortunate to work in a district where professional development is valued.  I have attended and presented at this convention for many years, and each year I return with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and energy!  This year seemed special as I connected with many National Teachers of the Year, colleagues I have not seen in awhile, and young and future professionals eager to begin their careers.  NYS AHPERD put on a fantastic conference with motivational keynote speakers and I am ready to get back to school and try out some of the lessons that I learned while there!  The conference theme was Pride, Passion, and Partnerships and I could not be more proud to be a Physical Education Teacher in NYS!

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: 11/10/14--11/14/14

Hi everyone,

     As we paused this week to honor our Veterans, I had many opportunities to feel grateful for the freedom that our Veterans worked so hard to preserve for us and future generations........

.....This week we finished up our Cooperative activities unit and I asked my third and fourth grade students to assess their behavior and learning during the unit.  Students "walked and talked" with a partner as they self-assessed and I was so impressed with their honest conversations!

.....Fifth grade students finished their work on our traverse rock wall this week.  One partnership was so focused on sharing the climbing and spotting time that they wanted to know how much time they had and asked me to let them know when half of the time had expired.  They certainly wanted to be fair to each other!

.....On our day off to celebrate Veteran's Day I had a wonderful opportunity to take a hike with my husband at a local preserve that has trails down to the Hudson River.  It was a great walk and it felt good to be outside enjoying our freedom!

.....Our Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador group met for the second time this year and I am so impressed at their responsibility and willingness to help!  We had a great meeting and finished up the time with some activity!  I recently learned about a site called Go Noodle which has some great ideas for classroom activity breaks.  We tried one out as a group and had fun!

.....Two of the areas that our principal has asked special area teachers to focus on this year is our use of questioning strategies and the use of vocabulary words with multiple meanings.  This week my primary students are learning about levels and I asked my students to talk to a friend about what levels are, why they are important, and where they are used.  What a great discussion!  When I asked students to share what they talked about they came up with a variety of terrific responses and many multiple meanings of the word levels!  In addition to talking about the use of levels in space (low, medium, and high), one student talked about levels in terms of learning and another talked about them in the context of a tournament and how winning a game gets you to the next level!

.....I had a great conversation with a student this week about how his strength and endurance has improved during the past year!  He explained that he had been working hard and that he was now stronger and could run longer than in the past.  I am so proud of him!

.....We had a great Healthy Highway assembly this week to introduce our next road - Charity Way.  Students listened to a book by Todd Parr called The Peace Book and then were asked about what Peace is.  Students had some great responses and were then challenged to work hard to ensure that everyone has "enough"......enough good feelings, enough food....enough warmth.......enough time......enough safety....enough love.....When everyone has "enough" there can be Peace........We have many school-wide events to accomplish this task and it is always heartwarming to see students rise to the challenge.

.....At the end of the week I was talking to a class about responsibility for fitness.  I explained that while PE was a great start, students needed to take responsibility for their own fitness by exercising outside of school.  One student shared her view of this in such an amazing way that I wish that I had taped it!  She explained that while she does not belong to a team or organized group, she wants to stay healthy and fit so one of her strategies is exercise before she watches television!  How great is that!  I told her that if more people had that attitude the world would be a healthier place!  

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 - 11/3/14-11/7/14

Hi everyone,
     How did we get to November?  November is a very busy month for school and family but it is also a month during which we should pause and give thanks......I am so grateful for the many opportunities in my life.  I teach in a wonderful school full of dedicated professionals and wonderful students and families and I have an amazing family of my own.   I hope that by sharing some of the "Best Parts" my gratitude is felt by all who read this blog.  

.....I have often talked about my "PE Password" program.  This week I overheard one of my fifth graders as he checked out the PE Password.  He said:  "Biceps!  I was right!".   It was great to hear learning going on without me even being present!

.....Students have been learning and practicing Trust Leans in preparation for climbing our Rock Wall.  I always demonstrate with a willing student volunteer.  This week when I asked for volunteers so many hands went up!  When I demonstrated by having the student be the "leaner" while I was the spotter, I could feel the incredible trust that the students had in my ability to keep them safe.  I remember that everyday......

.....On Tuesday I had a terrific opportunity to attend and present at the Southeastern Zone of NYS AHPERD Election Day Conference.  The energy in the sessions and the quality of the conference was amazing!  I always appreciate the opportunity to present and share some of my lessons and I met so many dedicated professionals who want to deliver quality Physical Education in their schools!

.....Wednesday was National Healthy Eating Day and we celebrated with Wellness Wednesday!  In PE students were asked to contribute by writing down their healthy snack.  The message was received!

.....Cardio Cal finished his adventure in a fifth grade class this week and I asked students to share some of his experiences in their class so that a journal entry could be created.  It was delightful as students told me about the Science and Math lessons that Cardio Cal was a part of!

.....Our before school day care program uses the gymnasium in the morning so that students can be active.  I am happy to share the space and so many of the students volunteer to help me!  This week in particular one student was available everyday with a smile and "Do you need any help?"

.....As students finished up our unit on Cooperative Education, they climbed our traverse Rock Wall.  I am always impressed with the care that the spotters give to their climber but this year seemed special as students gave "high fives" to climbers as they finished the wall,  and so many encouraging words were heard while students climbed!

.....Friday morning I was walking down the hallway as students were arriving.  One of my first graders smiled and asked:  "How is your day going so far?"  It was 9:05 am!  I replied that it was going well!

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