Ridgecrest Physical Education Blog

PE Wiki

2009-08-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

By the way, as part of my National Boards, I created a PE Wiki to share with my colleagues many different ideas. I have been busily updating the wiki with some of my favorite activities that really get my students involved and moving. Please feel free to check it out and if you have anything to add to it, please let me know.

Check it out:

https://shorelinepe.wikispaces.com/

The Year Ahead

2009-08-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone that has checked out my Blog! It looks like this is definitely a way for me to communicate with my parents, students, and everyone else out there that cares about physical education.

An update on the upcoming school year: At this point in time, my school district has placed me in a 5th grade classroom. I hope to get some time in the gym to continue working on my National Boards in Physical Education/Health, but it is still up in the air if they will find me any time in the gym.

If I am lucky enough to get back in the gym, I hope to continue building on this blog. I had hoped to become much more active in communicating with everyone. Only time will tell.

Thanks again for your support!

Is anyone out there?

2009-03-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when I like to take a good look at what I am doing in my job and begin picking out the good and the not so good. Right now, I am getting some positive feedback about the Ram PE newsletter that I have been putting together this year. Now I am real curious as to what people are thinking about our PE blog. I meant for the blog to be a place where parents and I could communicate about the PE program at Ridgecrest and together we could build a stronger program. So my question is out there...is anyone listening? What would you like to see in the RAM PE Blog? What useful information would you like to get about your son or daughters PE classes? What could make this experiment more meaningful for you?

Please post any and all ideas. Or at least just say hello...I am listening.

Thanks,

Allyn Woods

On to Jump Roping....

2009-01-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

Well, our quick golf unit concluded on Monday. The kids did a marvelous job learning the techniques and strategies for putting, chipping over the rough, and driving the ball for long distances. Many of our students realized how difficult golf really can be. I saw a ton of improvement and lots of enthusiastic faces throughout the unit. I can't say enough about how proud I am of our students for trying so many new activities. A huge thank needs to go out to Joe P., our First Tee of America golf instructor and father of two of our wonderful Ridgecrest kids. Thank you!!!

Now we move on to a jump roping unit. Jump roping is one of those activities that I find students either love or despise. I know that when I was a students I disliked jump roping to a great extent. Unfortunately, that led me to being a pretty terrible jump roper. Needless to say, I have learned a few things since then and I strive to make jump roping fun for even our struggling students. This year we are starting off with the basics of jump roping as we assess one another on the 4 cues of jump roping (elbows in, head up, land on the balls of the feet, and move your wrists in small circles). As we all get more comfortable with ourselves jumping through a our rope we will begin to challenge one another with twists, crosses, dance steps, and many different maneuvers sure to engage and challenge even the slowest jumpers. My goal for this unit it threefold. #1. I would like each student to improve their jump roping ability. #2. I would like each student to be challenged. #3. I would like each student to enjoy their time during this unit.

That's all for now. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns,

Thanks,

Allyn Woods

Tired Kids

2009-01-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

After a much longer Winter Break than we had anticipated, the Ridgecrest gym is getting right back into the swing of things. This week, being a strange week with all of the half days for teacher conferences, I thought I would see what sort of shape our kids are in after being away from school and everything that school entails (recess, PE, socializing with friends). I have been pushing the kids with running and tagging games all week and have been seeing some hot, tired, and red faces as they leave. Some students can hardly complete the 30 minutes of PE time without asking for a break or a trip to the water fountain. In fact, I have had a few classes that have had to stop early because so many of the kids just can't handle any more movement. I wonder how many families out there are able to participate in activities on their own outside of school. I wonder how many kids are signed up for basketball this season. I wonder how many families have had a chance to check out the brand new Shoreline YMCA over on 99 by Costco. I have heard that it is beautiful and offers a ton of exciting programs for kids and adults. I wonder how many parents exercise with their kids. I know that I have struggled mightily to get outside and do something over the break. It is evident that some of our students have to.

What ways have you found to get your kids active?
Are you able to be active with your kids every day or at least once a week?

Baseball in January...

2008-12-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Our students have been doing a marvelous job over the course of the past few weeks. We have officially completed our basketball unit and we saw great improvement across the board. More specifically, I noticed that our intermediate grades did a tremendous job working on their shooting skills. They took many of the cues that I spoke about in class and used them during our practice times. I saw some amazing progress. Today we are in the middle of one of the student's favorite units, throwing. Last week we worked primarily on accuracy using the underhand throw. This week we challenge ourselves with the overhand throw and work on our power and distance. Our kids sure love to throw...doesn't matter what the object is.

A big thank you needs to go out to one of our readers. She noticed that our listing for little league was for Richmond Little League, but that students from our side of the district actually play through North King County Little League, www.NKCLL.org. She also told me, "Sign ups have just started for the 2009 season. They will run through the end of January. February is tryouts for ages 9-14, and practices will start at the first of March. Please encourage all your kids to sign up as the league offers programs for ages 5 - 14, baseball, softball, t-ball, and also challenger for kids with disabilities." Thanks for the information!

Please let me know if I can add anything new to the blog or to our newsletter.

Sincerely,

Allyn Woods

Including the Community into the Gym

2008-11-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

We have a wonderful community surrounding us here at Ridgecrest. We have an amazing PTA that supports our teachers and students. We have a Parks Department and YMCA that run programs for people of all different ages and backgrounds. We have tons of parks with running trails, walking tracks, skateboard ramps, and playing fields. We have businesses that donate time, materials, and money to many of our school causes. And we have athletic programs that love to share their materials and time to promote themselves as well as their area of expertise.

I love having programs such as the First Tee of American or Spin Alley provide curriculum as well as materials to our PE program each year. It opens up many more possibilities for things that our students might find that they love. It also promotes activities that are close to each of our students as they come from locations mainly in the city of Shoreline.

The First Tee of America (golf) and Spin Alley (bowling) have been a fantastic addition to our PE program. I am always looking for more ideas of programs that would offer their time and materials to allow our students to experience new things. If you know of a program that might fit our needs, please let me know. Or if there is something that you would like me to look into, please offer suggestions.

Thanks,

Allyn Woods

It's amazing

2008-11-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

I just had one of those moments that is truly amazing to me.

We started our unit on basketball today and all of my classes have been enjoying the beginning techniques (primary) and more advanced techniques (intermediate) of the game. As everyone knows, the students that come to me each day come with different levels of experiences and knowledge. This is always very evident in basketball.

In one of my classes I had three students who found it more entertaining to point, laugh, and make fun of a few students who were struggling. It's a given that there will be students who struggle in each of my classes and I strive to make the gym a safe environment to be in. I emphasize each year that the gym is a place to make mistakes and through those mistakes students will learn. What was so unique about this instance was that these three individuals were students whom I know struggle mightely in the classroom. Whether it be math, reading, or writing these guys had the gall to make fun of their classmates at the one time when they needed their support. They even chose the students who excel in the classroom and students that would never laugh or point fingers at them when they can't figure out a math problem or read a passage.

This turned out to be a great teaching moment for all of us. I don't believe that these students were thinking clearly. Maybe they were excited to finally be better at something. Maybe they had never noticed how respectful these classmates are when they are better at something. Whatever it might have been, this moment made it very easy to make them think about their choices. I believe that after our discussion they will all be better people.

I Love November

2008-11-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite months is here! I love the trees changing colors, the rain coming back with a vengeance, and the thought that Turkey Day is just around the corner.

It's also a nice time to be a PE teacher. Students have settled into their classrooms and all of the introductions are out of the way. Here at Ridgecrest it also means that fitness testing is over or at least very close to being over. This means we can finally move on to new skill development and tons of success oriented activities.

For the month of November we are going to begin our annual unit on Basketball. As I have loved basketball throughout my life, I have a hard time teaching just basketball skills so I combine the skills with games to keep the kids moving. The basic skills of the game are important and I don't believe that there is any better way to learn the game then by getting on a team and getting into a game situation. As a PE teacher though, I know my students come from all different backgrounds and experiences. Some students have a great wealth of knowledge for the game and some have had very limited exposure to it. As a result, I try to blend my teaching to allow each student to be successful and motivated. It's sort of like our classroom teachers and how they need to challenge their gifted math students so they don't get bored. I need to do the same for our gifted basketball players so that they are intrigued by my class as well as the new students who are learning to dribble and shoot for the first time.

For some students this can be a tough thing to swallow. Students want to compete. Students want to show what they can do. I work hard to allow these students to use this chance to help others. As I tell all of my classes, everyone can be a great teacher.

Well, that's it for now. Just one question for you all.

Is there anyone out there?

Thanks,

Allyn Woods

The rain is back which must mean it's fitness testing time

2008-10-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to October! I notice that there are at least a couple of pairs of eyes checking out the blog so I will keep it going. If it doesn't catch on I might need to try some more extreme measures to catch every ones attention.

October is here and with it comes the rain, cooler weather, and fitness testing. This year each student from 1st through the 6th grade will be practicing and completing fitness tests. We have already completed our practice distance run for each grade and will wait for a dry week to complete the real test. For those of you that don't know, the first and second graders complete a 1/4 mile run which is 1 and 1/4 times around our track. The 3rd and 4th graders complete the 1/2 mile which is 2 and a 1/2 times around the track. The 5th and 6th graders complete a mile run which is 5 times around the track. (Our track is actually 1/5th of a mile instead of the 1/6th that the sign along the fence says).

Our students will also be practicing curl ups, push ups, flexed arm hang, sit and reach, and the trunk lift. If you are wondering what any of these tests look like, ask your student to show you. Over the next couple of weeks everyone will get the chance to experience them.

Students in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades will have PE homework this year. They will be asked to write down each of their practice scores, share them with parents, and determine a realistic goal for each of their tests. I feel that this will not only help students understand what is expected of them, but it will connect parents to what their students are doing in PE as well as help them stay motivated to improve upon their practice scores.

That's it for now. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas to share with me.

Thank you,

Allyn Woods

The New Year

2008-08-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

As the weather gets cooler and back to school ads start popping up on the tv, I always begin putting my brain back in teacher mode. Just like most students, I am anxious, excited, a little nervous, but usually very refreshed and ready to see all of the students I enjoy so much.
This year is no different. After an active but restful summer I am excited for the chance to start a new year. We get to learn some new names, show the new kindergartners a whole new world, and we get to see how many of our students have taken big strides to make themselves better individuals.

Here in the gym we are excited to be one of three schools in the district to receive a beautiful new floor. This floor is part of our bond dollars at work. It's so nice to be able to actually see some of that money being used. We can also look out at the playground and see some amazing new pieces of equipment that will undoubtedly keep our children active and having fun at recess.

Personally, I am excited to be trying some new things in my classes as well as outside of classes. One of my main goals for this year is to communicate more with students, parents, and staff in a way to gain a better insight on how people feel about our PE program. The program is always evolving and it is imperative to engage staff, parents, and students in conversation as well as foster many different methods of feedback.

That brings us to our brand new Ridgecrest PE blog. This blog was inspired by our new principal Mr. Delgado and his Ram Blog. I thought it would be an easy way for almost everyone to contribute questions, concerns, or praise so that we can continue building a stronger PE program for all students. In addition, I will continue an open door policy. If there is anything that you would like to talk about with me feel free to email me at allyn.woods@shorelineschools.org, call me at 361-4272 ext. 1483, or just drop by the gym.

Questions for you:

Are there any areas of concerns for you and your student when it comes to Physical Education at Ridgecrest?

Are there items that you have heard/seen other schools do that you would like us to try?

Will this Blog work as one method of communication?

Thanks,

Allyn Woods