Get Active...not just at school!

    I am big on getting my kids (both biological and school) active.  I strongly feel that active kids=active adults (someday).  Am I trying to create D1 athletes?  Nope not at all.  I am trying to help create active healthy kids who will become active healthy adults.  Many of my students are active while at school, then they go home to video games, TV, and no parents (because they are working shift work). 
   While attending the 2014 SHAPE American Conference (AAPHERD), my friend Mary (also a PE teacher)  and I met a man also from Kansas.  While talking to, (I am sure Mary is laughing right now) he shared that he sends backpack with equipment home with students!  What a great idea!  I immediately knew I wanted to do this. 

    I quickly realized that if I wanted to get an Apple TV and a Flat screen, my funds were minimal! No problem, after some searching for the cheapest backpacks possible, I find some....for FREE!  Even better!   While chatting with my principle, I notice a box full of dusty backpacks.  I immediately ask what they are for, come to find out they were found in a classroom, and had been used for sending books/tapes home with students years ago.  Perfect.  I did a quick walk through of my equipment closet, and thought of what the students and their families could do at home, safely of course.  I also knew I wanted to keep it simple, with the hope that maybe they would be able to get this kind of equipment on their own eventually!

 

 

      I included some information on what to do with the equipment, some statistics on staying active  as a family, and a inventory list.  On the front of the bag, there is a place for a little identification card.  I created a little card that I will fill in the blanks for each kid.  It will say who is "borrowing"  the equipment, and what day it needs to be returned to Linn.  I also include information on this in my monthly newsletter.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous that equipment wouldn't be returned, but decided the benefits would out weigh the risks.  If this works the way I think it will, I hope to expand on this, and possibly purchase equipment for it in the future.  I hope to create excitement with the kiddos about this, and then hopefully they carry that excitement home (literally) and share it with their family.  I am waiting for my info to be translated to Spanish, then they will be distributed to two kids from each grade level, for 2-3 days of use!

 

        There is a lot of excitement in Linn Elementary PE.  Tomorrow is the first "open gym night" this school year.  I am going to write a blog all about this later in the week.  I am also excited to share visitors that will be coming to Linn PE on Friday! 

 

Make a difference!  Get connected.  Follow our #DCelem chat on twitter.  Follow me on twitter too....@baugha.  Search #physed #pegeek, you'll be amazed at what you find!

 

Techy note: I finally figured out (with some help from our ipad/tech guru Jayne) the augmented reality app I talked about earlier.  Aurasma!  It's awesome, I cannot wait to share soon!





 

 

Bye for now!

AB

 

Namaste

      It's been a bit of a crazy week.  I am currently working on my ESOL endorsements, so on Monday's I have a two hour course after work.  I am on the activities committee for our school, we had a meeting on Tuesday.  Last night, I split two meetings, Building Leadership Team, and Healthier Generations.  Tonight we have PTO, and a technology night.  Weekend?  Anyone?  Today, while driving to school I thought of Yoga, and how calming it can be.  So, I quickly decided to change it up a bit, and have the kids do some yoga for their warm up!

    It was wonderful!  I participated in a few of the classes (did it with them).  It felt so great.  Generally speaking, the students were wonderful!  A 5th grade class, that tends to be a little.....wild (trying to find the right word) were awesome!  So awesome, when their teacher picked them up, he was amazed! I am far from a "Yogi" (is that what people who love yoga are called??), but I enjoy it every once in awhile.  I knew, my yoga skills were not great, so I quickly found an acceptable kids yoga video and set up the projector.  It was a great warm up!  I am considering adding it to my regular list of warm ups.  I think everyone can benefit from it!
     Speaking of my projector.  It's been great for me, but let's face it, pushing a cart with speakers, a laptop, and a projector on it to the middle of the gym floor, isn't great.  Add in the extension cord that lays across the floor (I surround it with cones for safety reasons) and it's a little bit of a mess.  This summer I thought how can I fix this?  I am lucky enough to still get money put into Physical Education needs each year.  This year....wait for it....I am buying a flat screen TV and a Apple TV box!  I am so VERY EXCITED!!! This will allow my ipad to "talk" to the TV!  Gone is my clunky cart.  I have had the technology guru stop by, and he cleared it all, now I am waiting for maintenance to help me figure out how we are going to protect it!  This #pegeek absolutely cannot wait!
   Today is also exciting for me.  My first ever newsletter is going home with my students.   A whole page all about PE!  This will be "published," (such a professional word) once a month.  I decided rather than just sending a flyer once a month for open gym night, I would make a whole newsletter!  Speaking of open gym night, I cannot wait to share with you the awesomeness that it is!  But, I got to go, the afternoon kinder's are on their way down!

Make a difference.  Stay active.  Stay connected- #physed #pegeek #dcelem

AB

Football and Fitness

        Do you ever have one of those days where a lesson just comes together?  I had that today, as recently as an hour ago.  I would say my weakness as a PE teacher is teaching the younger grades (K-1).  It's my fault, not theirs.  I lack patience to get my point across, often I have to set back and take a few deep breaths, and remind myself that these are someone's babies....my babies didn't/don't know how to do everything they are asked, and these babies (kids) are no different.  Fast forward to today.  We are working on throwing a football (catching too, but...not yet...one thing at a time).  We had a great game for the older kids, but I knew it simply would not work for the younger kiddos.  No way.   Time to improvise.  We tried several things (Thanks Adam), some worked...some not.  The kids never knew if it was "working" or not, but I SURE DID!  Finally this afternoon it came together.....

Keeping in mind that we have already worked on T-L-Step and throw I gave the kids the following directions. 
1.   You must throw from a RED LINE only...any red line that was around the cones.
2.  You are trying to knock the ball off the cone (throwing with a purpose).
3.  If you knock the ball off you get a point, and you must put the ball back on the cone.
4.  You can only throw from the red line, any RED LINE!
5.  You must RUN to get your ball. 
6.  You may ONLY throw from a RED LINE!

     So, you get my point!  Guess what, it worked!  Sure there were a few kids who struggled with that RED LINE thing, but generally speaking, it was great.  Everyone got to throw the ball several times, we were doing some math, we were moving our bodies, and of course we were HAVING FUN!  Nothing fancy about this lesson, but it worked! It worked well enough that I think I am going to add some elements and make it work for older grades as well. 

    Last night I took part in the first every Dodge City Elementary twitter chat #DCelem...join us every second Monday of the month from 7:30-8:30! It was awesome to get on twitter and chat away.  Such a great/simple way to network/learn/grow/etc.  This made me think about our ipads, and how I seriously CANNOT WAIT for our kids to get them back!  I am just about to explode at the thought of using Augmented Reality in my classroom!  Sounds crazy right?  Look up an app call AURASMA.  There is another one called DAQRI that will be great as well.  Imagine your students scanning (not the word I am looking for but it will work) over a basketball, and a video about basketball pops up on their ipad screen....yep, that cool!  This #PEGEEK cannot wait to check it out!

I gotta go!  Activities committee meeting and watching some volleyball are on the agenda!

Go make a difference, and a twitter account.

AB

It's a Balloon World!

        Today was the beginning of a new unit!  I like to combine football and volleyball into one unit.  We just rotate every couple of days within the unit.  I believe that teaching sports is an important part of physical education.  I keep everything very basic when doing these units.   My thought process behind them is that eventually these students will leave elementary school and move up to Jr. high, high school, college, and eventually have a family.  Knowing the basics of various sports, may be the key to keeping them active (and healthier)! 
      So back to today's lesson.  We started with bumping the "volleyball," which in this case is a balloon.  I own (my school owns) the fancy oversized volleyballs, that I used waaaayyy too much of my PE money on.   I use them eventually, but I discovered quickly, balloons and beach balls are where it's at.  Back to today...bumping.  I kept it really basic, we are in "shortstop,"  (ready position), arms are strait, and hands are together.  You can imagine how many times I had to show the correct way to put your hands together! :)  I also realize that necks begin to ache pretty quickly when waiting for the sloooow balloon to come down.  My fix for that?  Music plays, you can hit the balloon however you would like to, when the music shuts off, we are BUMPING it only! This gave me time to walk and round and do quick evaluations for the future! So if you haven't already, go buy some balloons, kids love them, fantastic/safe way to learn!

 

 

This summer when I was getting the gym ready, I was thinking about how I want to make sure the students are exercising their brain as well as their bodies in PE.  After doing some internet searching, I found an idea that I tweeked a bit.

 

     As my students line up to leave the gym, I encourage them to take a look at the questions, and be ready to give answers.  I randomly ask a few of the kids these questions.  When our ipads get ready (yep, still waiting....boo)  we will use them to answer the questions once in a while!    I have already found that the students are thinking a little bit more.  Throughout the class I carefully point out key words (usually are also on the word wall, or in the Today I am........ statement on the whiteboard).

 

   Last night I laid in bed wide awake thinking about my upcoming presentation at KAHPERD.  I am so excited to share the #pegeek that I am!  I have so many idea's, it's going to be hard narrowing it down to a 1 hour (or less) presentation!  Eeekkk, I am excited.  I wanted to share a few of my favorite apps that I have used frequently.  I have so many more that I cannot wait to try out! Watch for feedback in upcoming posts!

 

Apps:

Educreations (awesome way for students to see a picture of themselves doing a skill and be able to speak their evaluation, then send it on to me)

 

Counter Up: Great scoreboard up, simple but effective!

 

Qrafter Pro: Have you explored QR codes yet? They make perfect stations, demonstrations, the list goes on and on!

 

     I'm out of time for today.  If your going to check out just one of these apps, go for Educreations (maybe my very favorite)!   Also, I am part of a three person team who is starting a elementary teacher twitter chat on the second Monday of each month from 7:30-8:30pm.  The hash tag you want to search for is #DCELEM  It will be an awesome way for you to find others educators and chat!  The first night (Sept. 8th) is for Twitter Newbies, so If you do not have an account....you have a problem, now go fix it!

 

Make a difference!

AB

Follow Me!  @baugha

 





These shoes were made for walking....

         Say hello to my shoes.  These shoes (more importantly the feet inside them) haven taken me on quite the journey today in my PE world.  I always say I am trying to make a difference in the life's of my students.  Today, each and every class (10 down, 2 more to go) has walked to our check point (if it's ever decided our building is not a safe place to be).   This "point" is about 9/10 of a mile from our building round trip.  One block is uphill....(I know, Kansas doesn't have "hills" well, WE DO)!  Anyway, I'll let you do the math, but you get my point.  I've walked ALOT today.  Don't get me wrong, no complaining (although 65 degrees would have made it a bit better) I have enjoyed, and needed the extra exercise!  One of the trips home, I was thinking about the privilege I have of being in charge of these kids for 25 minutes each day.  What an amazing chance I have to make a difference.  What a luck lady I am! Not only was I blessed with two AMAZING children that call me mom, I also have 400 (ish) that are mine for a little part of each school day!  Not going to lie, my feet are currently burning and swollen, and TIRED! :)

     I have been meaning to talk about a quick warm up that is so very effective, and so VERY simple.  I got this from a fellow PE teacher aebout 4 years ago.  I adapted it to make it my own!  It's called 5 Touchs.  So, the students move around the track, using whatever motor skill you choose.  You play music, when the music stops, they freeze!  You then call out an grade level appropriate math problem (classroom teachers LOVE it when you bring in their curriculum).  The students in turn shout out the answer.  Whatever number them get (let's say 20/2=10) so then you pick a body part to touch on different places in the gym.  I have 8 teams of 6 numbers painted on my gym floor that we call our "homebases."  My students know, that's their touch points.  I may say "10 Elbows," so they have to bend down and touch their elbow on 10 different numbers.  When they are finished they walk on the track until the music starts again, then we repeat, different motor skill, different math problem, different body part!  

   I am off to finish my walking journey today!  Go make a difference, and go to Twitter, find your #PLN! 

Physical Literacy

Hello!
       As you may or may not have known SHAPE America  (formally known as AAPHERD) released National Standards recently.  In these standards you see the words "Physical Literacy."  While attending the 2014 AAPHERD Convention in St. Louis (All physical education teachers should aim to attend a National Convention....truly an AWESOME, eye opening experience), I started to make sense of and understand a little more about Physical Literacy. 
   Today, we were working on our Motor Skills!  I like to start the year with this, making sure that students have the basic motor skills we need to do our activities.  I found myself really thinking hard about physical literacy.  One of my favorite follows on twitter +Amanda Stanec (MoveLiveLearn) recently started a chat on Twitter under #BeWellTeacher.  While following along (you should too) I became really interested in the idea that as teachers (both PHYSED and regular) we have to set good examples for our students.  We all aim to help create healthy students, so we must make sure we are healthy teachers leading the way!  I started to think, "Am I physically literate?"  After getting approval from my principle, I decided to make a little board in the lounge all about physical literacy! 

 

Oh, and I love technology...notice the QR Code!  My favorite QR code maker? Qrafter Pro

 

Have a fantastic day!  Aim to make a difference, and aim to not only be on Twitter, but be active!  Looking for a place to start?  On Twitter, search #PHYSED and #PEGEEK!

 

Friday!

     The first week of school is almost over.  Although I only taught three of those days, it seems like it's been a long week!  Long, but exciting none the less!
    Today as I sit down to type this, I thought about how I loved twitter so much, and how it has sparked so many idea's for me.  Then I thought, you silly girl, (I may have said that in a little bit different way) you haven't even given your twitter handle?!  Geesh.  It's @baugha, please go follow me if you are not already! :)
   Yesterday I used one of those activities I got from good ole twitter, sort of.  I found the creator on twitter. If your not following @capnPetesPE you should be, he created the cards I am about to tell you about.  I purchased alphabet exercise cards from Teachers Pay Teachers (you need to know all about that too...type in Teachers Pay Teachers in google or whichever search engine you prefer).  Here is a picture of these awesome cards!

 

      Okay, so now insert the #pegeek that I am.  I quickly realized when planning, that my 2nd day of school kindergartners (and even first graders) were not going to have the slightest clue how to make their way around the gym and find these cards on the walls or cones.  Easy fix, I'll take pictures of each card on my ipad, set up the projector and use the air server to project them on the wall!  I did just that and it was awesome!  My scared to death of school kinder's had fun!  And guess what? They were exercising! I simply scrolled through and found a letter, set a timer for 20 seconds and we did the exercises from the comfort of our home bases!  In between I had them jog in place or do a yoga pose for 30 seconds.  They loved it.  So did I!  I tied in a little bit of their alphabet work by having them guess what letter came next, what letter was before, etc.  For my first graders, I asked them to tell me what letter was 3 behind W (example).  Worked well with them too. 

      I like it when I can use the same equipment/lesson plans for all grades, so I adapted this to my 2nd-5th graders as well.  I first scattered around the cards on the outer part of my gym.   I was able to sneak in technology by using a quick and easy timer app (Stopwatch+).  The students did a given motor skill on the track area for 30 seconds, then stopped at the nearest card and did the exercise for 30 seconds.  I ran the clock from my ipad as I wondered around the gym checking in on the action.  

They were sweating and working hard!  And learning too.  We talked about how many words they could come up with that started with the given letter! In the future (when their ipads are ready) I would have used an app called Educreations and had them quickly write down the words, then send them to be using an app called Showbie!

   Our students ipads are still being set up for the year.  Hurry up!  I have a few apps I am dying to try! One is Lazy Monster, a 7 minute exercise app.  Simple exercises done by a monster of course.  Students will follow along! Aurasma is another app I am uber excited about!  Ever heard of augmented reality?  It's like QR codes on another level!  I promise a post all about it in the future! 

   Okay, that was a techy post!  Anyway, I want to share my awesome warm up from today, it's an oldie, but certainly a goodie!  Next post, this #physed teacher has a group of 27 kindergartners on their third day of school about to arrive in my gym! Yikes!!

 

Make a difference, have a good weekend, and of course GET A TWITTER!  (And follow me)!

 

ME!