Prime Examples :)

This past Thursday, Tracy and I were lucky enough to be able to attend the Physical Education Portfolio Showcase. This was a fantastic event honoring those exceptional Physical Education students that have created a professional portfolio masterpiece. It was a fantastic experience to be able to check out some great portfolios. It was truly inspiring!!! Great job Rockstars!!! Thank you!

Checking out the wonderful work of SUNY Cortland's PE Rockstars!

Even the Grinch is smiling :)

Our final week at St. Mary's couldn't have been any better! I was lucky enough to be in the gym with Nate for most of the afternoon. We had a total blast!

Look how wonderfully the students are listening and how respectfully they are asking their questions!

Mr. Nate and Miss Bree are checking for understand before Christmas tree tag gets underway!

Christmas trees and house mice - GO!!!

Apparently I wasn't running fast enough! Now - I am frozen in Christmas tree form until I am freed by a house mouse!

Christmas tree tag was perfect for a warm-up!  We ran out a lot of our wild energy!  But, don't be fooled - there was plenty left to go around.

After Christmas tree tag we broke out one of the favorites - PARACHUTE GAMES! The kids go wild for a parachute! Our first game was Nate's. We had to run underneath the chute and collect a present when our Christmas character was called! We had Rudolphs, Snowflakes, Frosties, and more! It was great!

Nate is freed by a house mouse!!!

Uh OH! Here comes the GRINCH! Watch out little Whos!!!!







After we'd collected all of our presents, the Grinch showed up! Yikes!!!! He was so sneaky, clever, and conniving.That little green guy crept all around underneath the parachute and snuck up on the unsuspecting Whos! When a Who was caught - they became the Grinch and the Grinch a Who! The kids had a riot!

Little genius! This young lady, right here, just stunned me (obviously!) with her uncanny ability to dominate the checker board. All I can say is... WOW!







After our crazy parachute games we went down for snack time and play time. Madeline and I got to play a riveting game of checkers! That girl, I swear, is a little genius. The way she can visualize the game - INCREDIBLE! Her little brain is a firecracker! It's awesome!

 

Always a favorite - the parachute! This awesome addition to the day's activities always gets the kids super excited and revs up their imaginations!

I can't tell you just how much I am going to miss those kids (though, lucky for me, I get to spend next semester with them too)!  :)   It was truly an honor to be a part of their lives!!! 

Thank you - St. Mary's!!!

You will always hold a special place in my heart! 

A Little Christmas FUN :)

This past weekend I was privledged to spend some quality time with the students and parents of St. Mary's School. On Friday, late afternoon, a group of us helped the school set up for their big Christmas Bazaar! It was neat to be a part of the effort that went into preparing such an event. The ladies did a great job decorating for Christmas, the school was beautiful! We were more so responsible for setting up tables, chairs, and games. Saturday, however, was the fun part :) On Saturday morning, Tracy and I were responsible for the football throw for a couple of hours. It was AWESOME! The kids loved it, let me tell ya! They were so adorable! It was great to see them having a blast!

Game on!!!

Shootin' some hoops with the kids and Spongebob!

Getting to spend some time with the kids in a fun and relaxed setting outside of the gym - was AWESOME!

They were able to win prizes and hang out with Santa himself! What could be better?! (Well, besides real reindeer)!!!

It was a wonderful experience to be a part of the school and community outside of the classroom. It's totally about being more than just a teacher. I definitely had a ball :)

Totally Turkerific :)

Our Thanksgiving lab was wonderful. Ian, Tracy, and I got to work with the Pre-K this week and I can absolutely say we had so much fun doing it :) Tracy and I got to spend some time in the Pre-K classroom and had a blast getting to know some of the kids! We got to talk about everything we were thankful for while creating a masterpiece: The THANKFUL TURKEY!

We all picked our favorite color and made a feather for our Turkey. On each feather was a little piece of us that we were thankful for. Many of us were thankful for friends, family, and much loved pets.
 

The Pre-K had a blast creating this Thanksgiving masterpiece! The thankful turkey is our collection of the things in life that we love the most and are the most thankful for.

It was so much fun to listen to all of the interesting things that each of the students were thankful for. There were so many wonderful stories that exemplified the character of each of them!

Spending some quality time with the students before the afternoon comes to a close.



They always have something funny and insightful to say!

Physical Education is about so much more than just the physical. It is our job to educate the whole child! We have innumerable ways to help our children grow into thoughtful, responsible, respectful individuals.

It is especially awesome working with kids this age because they are just so happy and excited to be where they are. Everything is new and an adventure for them. If you listen close enough, you can learn a lot about the simple things in life - the pure and good things that can really make someone happy and appreciative of their life.

Halloween Scream :)

You can't help but love Halloween - Fall, costumes, candy, witches, and fun! We were the gym group this week and we got to play some great games that allowed for us to check out the students' throwing and catching skills.

Tying wild and creative stories into your explanation of the game is a fabulous way to keep the kids' attention and to inspire in them a passion to play! Check it out - they totally dig it!

It was extra awesome because not only did we get to play games with the kids we got to make up some pretty fantastic stories as well.

Just to illustrate - when I was introducing my game (Magic Orb Tag) to my kids - I got to elaborate on just how magical our special orbs were in helping us during our play. I was also asked why my witch hat wasn't sticking straight up!!! Whoa! Million dollar question! How do I answer cleverly and creatively so I can inspire the kids to play!?? Ah ha! It's obviously a magic hat that is losing its magic and the only way to fill it back up is to have an awesome fun time playing this game!!! (At the end of the game I made sure my hat was pointing straight up to the skies and thanked the kids for helping me fill up with magic once again)!

Dressing up and playing a role is a great way to make your program unique and influential! It allows the kids to use their imaginations and have tons of fun all while being physically active!

Beyond Physical Education - we aspire to inspire. We encourage our students to create, to imagine. To feel open and confident. To play. To respect. To show compassion. To love - life, health, and each other.

I totally love being able to use my imagination and get wild with my stories. I think it helps create an unforgettable experience for the kids and promotes a very healthy and vivid learning environment! It seems as though we are all kids at heart <3

The Beginning of a NEW ADVENTURE :)

This has truly been a wild Autumn for me. My life has changed drastically in a matter of months. It seems to be true what they say... about just knowing what you want to do with your life. I love this, I love PE and I know I will love Health - Just like I love Biology. (See, you don't have to pick just one thing... there's a whole world of wonderful things out there - why choose just one)?!

So, in short ... I am happy. I am excited. And, I can't wait for tomorrow!

A WONDERFUL BEGINNING

A heartfelt thank you to the fabulous and inspiring students of St. Mary's!