Field Day

Who doesn't love a fun Field Day??  HAHAHAHA!  OK, I had to laugh at that statement.  There are so many classroom teachers (and PE teachers) that could totally live without Field Day.  I, on the other hand, LOVE it!!  Seriously, I do!  It can be a little overwhelming to organize, but it is an awesome example of controlled chaos.

Of course, we wait until SOLs are over to hold our Field Day.  This year should be interesting....it will be on a MONDAY!  I have my fingers crossed that parents will still volunteer.  Over the next three months, I will post ideas for Field Day stations, scheduling, and t-shirts.  I hope there is at least one thing you can use from it!  I will leave you with one of my most favorite pictures from Field Day.  It was from my previous school.  It is a picture of the who school from the roof top.  Each grade level has a different color shirt.

Technology in PE

When I mention using technology in PE, most people laugh and roll their eyes.  No, seriously - I LOVE IT....well, to a certain point.  If it is something that can easily be used by the students and not take away from activity time - then I'm ALL IN! 

It is common that the gym is kind of multi-purpose room.  It is used for PE, fundraiser programs, music programs, guest speakers, etc.  Right now my gym is having an air conditioning unit installed.  Ironic since it is like 30 degrees outside, but man will it be nice in May!  We had PE in the library a couple of times.  (we couldn't go outside due to rain)  So, what can we do in the library for PE???  I decided to incorporate some health.

I took an iPad class back in November.  One of the sessions was on QR Codes...you know, those square scan code thingies???

I worked along with my school's TRT (who is awesome) and we put together a QR Code project teaching the 4th and 5th graders about the skeletal system.  The students brought a pair of scissors and glue with them and I provided them an iPod and a packet.  The packet included each of the bones (enlarged on a couple sheets of paper) and an instruction sheet.  Take a look at the instruction sheet.



The students go step by step until they have completed their skeleton and learned a little bit of information about certain bones.  It was better than me lecturing about it :-)  They really seemed to enjoy it!  And no worries, we did the Cha-Cha Slide and a few other fun dances to get our blood flowing!

Climbing to Success

I decided at the end of last school year that I was bound and determined to get a traverse climbing wall for our gym.  I went to our PTA and they were PUMPED about the idea.  They were so generous and promised to pay a good portion of the cost.  I told them I would apply for a grant and organize a fundraiser.  Unfortunately, we did not receive the grant (BOO!), but we did have an awesome school-wide fundraiser.  My fellow encore teachers were a great help and the community raised almost $3000.  WOW!!! 

Our fundraiser was called "Walk for a Wall: Walk-a-Thon".  All grades participated during their forty-five minute encore class.  Our Title I program joined in and helped tremendously.  Here is a look at our first note home.  We also sent home a collection sheet and envelope.

The students that brought back their envelopes with donations were entered into a drawing that took place the day of the Walk-A-Thon.  Our awesome parents sent in small prizes and the athletic teams at our feeder high school sent tons of cool shirts, towels, and hats.  Parents and family members were invited to walk with their child.  Including teachers, parents, and guests, we had over 100 adults participating in the event!

As a thank you, the Everlast Climbing Industries, sent us small buttons that we were able to give to every child that donated.  I was surprised at how many kiddos wore them the next day!  Super cool!  I also included a list of the students that brought in donations in the school newsletter.

UGH!!!  I am so frustrated that I didn't catch the typos in this card until 5 months after sending them out!!!  

My dad (a retired PE teacher) and a fellow retiree installed the wall.  It took two days.  Not including the panels, there were 22 boxes of material.  The kids really enjoyed watching the process of putting it up.  

Sorry, it is so fuzzy!

So, here are the details of our wall:

• Traverse Magna-Wall (which means it has a magnetic component that we can us) 
• Height: 9 feet
• Length:  36 feet (typically 40 feet, but our wall wasn't long enough)

We also purchased:

• The Challenge Course
• The Startfit System
• Character Holds

Here are some pictures of the wall.

Here is a picture of our four CHARACTER HOLDS

It has been an awesome addition to our school and to our PE program.  The PTA will be using it at the Spring Carnival.  The parents are going to LOVE it!!

Rolling the dice....

Nope, I'm not in Vegas.....but we are rolling the dice for math!!  I love using dice in PE to incorporate math. The kiddos also enjoy it!  I did have a problem with some of the dice growing legs and walking out of the gym....so, I found this awesome idea on Pinterest.  Thank you "Sunny Days In Second Grade"!!  Mine are a little different - they didn't have the colored lids, so I incorporated the colored dice.  I am excited to use them for the first time.  When I use them, I will post some pics.  Everything was purchased at the Dollar Tree.  It cost $6 - Woot-woot!!!

Here are my supplies:

• Dice
• Small Containers with lids
• Glue - I put a little glue on it to prevent easy access :-)

I put one white and one colored dice in each container.  I thought this would be a cool way to group them and organize the kids.  We'll see if that works.


The finished product....I'm super proud of them!

 I also love the storage containers at the Dollar Tree!  

Happy Monday!!! -amy-

My first post

Welcome to the Fun 2 Be In PE Blog!  I was searching the web for PE ideas and came up empty handed.  OK, that might be dramatic.  There were a couple of sites out there, but I thought...Amy, you need to set up a blog and start sharing your ideas.

I am an elementary Physical Education (PE) teacher.  I teach at a Title I school that houses around 465 students.  I teach six forty-five minute classes each day and also work with a first grade class fifteen minutes a day doing math remediation. 

I have taught at the elementary level for nine years.  For PE, elementary is the best!  The kids LOVE coming to PE.  I try very hard to mix FUN with FITNESS! 

I will use this blog to share ideas for PE classes, classroom physical activities, classroom management ideas, TECHNOLOGY ideas, and best of share fun experiences with/from my little kiddos. 

Here goes nothing......