The new and improved Boston Celtics!

Welcome to the 2009-2010 NBA Season! I cannot believe it is already time for basketball this Fall, the year is absolutely flying by. Entering November we are continuing a fantastic sport season coming down to the end of the NFL season, and beginning the NBA. My Boston Celtics look really good this year with, in my opinion, the most talented team in the league. Our bench is incredible with the additions of Rasheed Wallace and Marques Daniels tagging up with our deadly shooter in Eddie House.

Our starting five is scary:

C: Kendrik Perkins

F: Kevin Garnett

F: Paul Pierce

G: Ray Allen

G: Rajon Rondo

Bench:

F: Rasheed Wallace

G/F: Marques Daniels

C: Shelden Williams

G: Eddie House

G: Tony Allen

F: Glen Davis

Many of the experts have high hopes for this years team, and are ranking them the best team in the league over the defending champions, the Los Angelas Lakers. I have high expectations as well, and anything but another NBA championship will be a failure with the talent and coaching we have! Go Green, but before them, go Pats!

Is there still baseball being played right now? I don't even know who's playing in the world series....

These two pictures can be found at: www.bostonceltics.com

Happy Halloween

Halloween is always a very fun and exciting time for our students. Just think back when you were a little boy or girl and how excited you were to go trick or treating! This past week I have spent a little time at the beginning of my classes during my introduction about SAFETY during Halloween night on Saturday. This is a good way to incorporate exercise into Halloween when they go door to door with their parents.

We discussed how to be safe, especially when it gets dark and their are many people walking on the sidewalks. My students were very good answering my questions about staying close to their parents or grown up who they are with, and not eating any candy that is open or damaged in any way. I felt that this was important to discuss so when they were out with their friends and family they hopefully remember what we talked about in class.

You can find this picture at: www.no-off.com/smoke.htm

I also think it is important because every year I read about something bad that has happened to a child. In the past, I remember reading about a local child who was hit and killed by a car. Another was when a child bit into a candy and there was a razor blade jammed inside it, cutting their mouth.

You can find this picture at: http://www.balorioles.mlblogs.com/

We also need to remember to be safe ourselves this Halloween! Tonight I am attending a costume party at one of my friends house. He just bought a house and completely gutted the entire inside, leaving it bare with no furniture. He is bringing in a DJ and strobe lights, finishing it off with a smoke machine! This should be a great time, but remember, there will be many children out tonight, so we need to be especially careful on the roads. I am going to be "Iron Man" and my costume is incredible!

Mini Tossing Golf

This past week was the end of my tossing unit with my 5th, 4th, and 3rd grades. I wanted to evaluate their tossing skills with a fun application game at the end of the unit. I combined the underhand toss with the game of golf inside my gymnasium. A couple days this past week we had beautiful weather, so I was able to take my classes outside and create an even larger tossing golf course.



I had the students choose their own partners, which worked well, because they paired up with their classmates who had similar skill levels in the toss. This created a welcoming learning environment, and the students were very excited to start the game. As the students walked in, I had the directions set up on my white board that I wheel around my gym. They found a partner and sat on the middle line which was in the middle of the course. I then gave them a tour of the course and where the holes were and in what order they were going to play them in. I wrote the number of the hole and an arrow giving the direction it was in so it was easy to follow.



You can find this picture at: www.the-office.com/Bedtime-Story/mousenap.htm

Once the students understood how to play the game, I passed out a score card. This is where I incorporated math into my lesson. The students kept track of their scores and counted how many tosses it took them to make it inside the hula hoop. At the end of the game, after every group played all 9 holes, I had them tally up their individual scores, then their team scores.



I used the score cards as an assessment tool. The student who had the lowest score, had the highest proficiency in the underhand toss. I also used my observational techniques to assess the students as well. All of my students in all three grades really enjoyed this game. They were on their own and participated well with each other.



I taught toward the affective domain by explaining that the game of golf is a game of respect. Each group had to wait until the group ahead of them finished the hole. I also explained how important it was to not distract the other groups when they were tossing so they could completely focus on the attempt.



Mini Tossing Golf was a big hit! I am definitely going to use it next year!

Personal System for Instruction

I am very excited about this weeks presentation of the PSI model. I am looking forward to learning about the ways of instruction that I will be able to use in my classes. I like the main focus of this model, which is: Students progress as fast as they can or as slowly as they need. This motto really creates a calm and warm learning environment. Students are not pressured to learn a new skill in a timely manner. Eliminating the factor of time, ensures students to relax but to stay focused because the teacher has a high interaction with their students during this type of instruction.



You can find this picture at: www.usw.edu/208899.ihtml

Goals of the PSI Model:


-Increased individualized instruction


-Student progress at own pace


-Encourages independent learning


-Increased teacher to student interaction



The main advantage of this model is the ability to teach to specific students with specific needs, rather than the entire class, which has many needs. This works very well, because as we know, every student has different physical and learning abilities. As a teacher, being able to specifically reach these certain needs with the appropriate teaching strategy will increase the academic learning time during class.



Units that will work well in the PSI model:


-Individual sports (ex: golf, tennis)


-Team sports (ex: basketball, soccer)


-Dances (ex: square dance)


-personal fitness programs/goals (ex: activity log)



Domain Priorities:


-first: Psychomotor


-second: Cognitive


-third: Affective



This effective, 1 on 1, teaching strategy can only be used with classes that are independent, mature and able to follow directions. Once again, it is very important to understand your students are how they learn. If you tried this model with a class who cannot stay focused and needs your attention all of the time, this might not be the best instructional model to use.

Peer Teaching

"I teach you, you teach Me!"



Peer teaching can be a powerful teaching skill that is used in the gym. It gives the students a great responsibility and "more power" during class. It is very important that the teachers always set clear expectations for the tutors (students who will be doing the teaching). Teaching the tutors how to be "effective teachers" is a critical role in this process. The tutors need to understand how to "teach" the other students, so they will be successful.

This picture can be found at: http://www.thirteen.org/

Once the tutors understand their role, then the learners need to properly do their job as well. The learners need to take this strategy very seriously, because it can be easy to get silly while working with your peers. A very important part of this process is always assessing both the tutors and learners. This will remind both parties that this is an important role they are participating in and they need to pay attention.

This picture can be found at: www.law.umkc.edu

When you are creating partners for this teaching strategy it is OK to pair a highly skilled student with a low skilled student. This gives both students a chance to learn from each other, and become better listeners and cooperative students. When the tutors and learners switch roles, you do not have to change the learning activity because both parties already know what to expect. Now, they lower skilled student will be able to "follow" the higher skilled students lead, even though they are not exactly confident with their skills.

Peer teaching a very structured learning environment with students having specific roles and duties. Monitoring students to stay on task will be very important, and using your assessment will define the students expectations and keep them focused through out the lesson.

Current Event

2- 14 year old Southwick boys, 1 behind the wheel, fatally injured in car accident.




A sad story from this past weekend leaves 2 Southwick boys dead. The boys took a parents car and was involved in a car accident 3 miles from home. Both of the boys were ejected from the car, and pronounced dead at the scene. The other car was being driven by a girl who was hit head on by the boys. The girl was rushed to Baystate Medical Center and was recently released. The accident took place at 9:30 pm, when the boys were driving in the dark.

This photo can be found at: www.masslive.com

This sad story can be a learning experience for all young teens who never think about the consequences before they act. At this age, children think that they are "invincible" and that nothing bad will happen to them. This is a stage that people go through in their young lives, where they are brave, and willing to go to extremes to impress their friends. Teenagers everywhere should really think before they act, and understand what can happen if something goes wrong. Too many times you hear of awful things like this happening, and then you think about their parents. How terrible they must feel and now how to live with this grief for the rest of their lives.

Children need to realize that automobiles are dangerous weapons, and if not used properly, or not been trained properly, they could be deadly. This is a definite example of how something can go terribly wrong, and as we all know, accidents happen. What teenagers need to start to realize, is that accidents can happen to them as well.

Target Heart Rate Zone

When your students are participating in your class, do they enter their target heart rate zone?

-The first thing that you need to do is find your maximum heart rate (MHR) by subtracting your age from 220. Example: I am 25 years old, so I would do : 220-25: 195

So my Maximum Heart Rate is 195 beats per minute.

Next multiply your maximum heart rate by .60 to get your lower end of your target heart rate zone. Example: 195 x .60= 117

You can find this picture at: www.davita.com/UploadesImages/ExerciseArticle-310.jpg

So my lower end of my target heart rate zone is: 117 beats per minute.

Next multiply your maximum heart rate by .90 to get the upper end of your target heart rate zone. Example: 195 x .90= 176 beats per minute.

So my upper end of my target heart rate zone is 176 beats per minute.

You can find this picture at: www.myhealth.centrahealth.com

Taking this information I now know what my Target Heart Rate is: 117-176 beats per minute.

For myself to burn calories and benefit from exercise, I need to maintain my heart rate between 117-176 beats per minute. If I am able to achieve this, I will gain maximum health benefits from my exercise.

This is a lesson that I am doing in my fitness unit this week with my 5th graders. They will be able to calculate their target heart rate, and then after exercise, we will take our pulse, and see if we have been participating in our target heart rate zone. They will be able to understand if they are working hard enough to burn calories, or if they need to start giving a better effort during activities to increase their heart rates.

The Target Heart Rate Zone lesson will tie nicely into my cardiovascular endurance lesson when I have my students record their data in their activity logs. This important characteristic of an effective teacher is known as scaffolding!

Rays of Hope Walk

This past weekend, I participated in the Rays of Hope Walk at Forest Park in Springfield. This is a walk to raise money for breast cancer through Baystate Medical Center. This is my second year walking in support of a teacher who had breast cancer at my school. It is a great event, where all of the Selser teachers gather around our colleague who is currently in remission. This is truly a school-building, support group that encourages breast cancer patients and women who are in remission to be strong and have a positive outlook.

Before the walk in the morning we all gathered together for a big breakfast and then traveled to Forest Park for the walk. You can choose how long you would like to walk because they have two routes designated for all the participants. I chose the 2 mile walk, but some others chose to do the 5 mile. After the walk, we all gathered at my teachers church in East Longmeadow and had a pot luck lunch. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we not only raised money for the breast cancer foundation, but we also exercised as well!

You can find these pictures at: www.baystatehealth.org/Baystate/raysofhope

Teaching Teamwork in my Tossing Unit

I am now entering the manipulative unit of the toss for my K-2nd grades and the underhand throw for my 3rd-5th grades. During this unit students will learn the proper techniques of the toss and underhand throw by using the key points. They will also continue to practice the catch, that they have learned during the last unit. Students first start out by tossing a bean bag up in the air and catching it with two hands, then progressively once students start to become comfortable and are ready to move on, they will toss the bean bag into a hula hoop. Continuing with the developmentally appropriate progression, they will start to toss a bean bag back and forth with a partner, then lastly they will toss/underhand throw in a star passing game.

You can find this picture at: www.eteamz.com/CalgaryTitans.com


This is when I introduce the important of teamwork. I define teamwork by: A cooperative effort by the members of a group to achieve a common goal. I have a display in my gym of the Boston Celtics when they won the NBA Championship a couple of years ago. I explain how they all worked individually for the entire team and that is why they were so successful. I then relate sports teams to individual classes in our school. I explain and give examples that their class is very similar to a sports team because they are a group who needs to do their individual best so their class is successful. They need to focus about what they are doing and give their own best effort, so there class is successful.









When they are placed in partners and then in groups of 5, I explain and demonstrate the importance of communication and respect with their classmates. Being good listeners and discussing techniques, instead of ignoring and not listening, or disagreeing and being rude to their classmates. During our class discussion at the end, we discuss ways that they displayed good teamwork and then we also discuss ways that we need to improve so we can be more successful in group situations!

You can find this picture at: http://www.cyber-nation.com/

My "After School" Job in the Fall

I am currently a Connecticut Valley Soccer Officials Association (CVSOA) member. This is my first year refereeing Junior Varsity boys and girls soccer matches. During my first year, I am expected to become competent with the National Federation of State High School Association rules and expectations. I am not allowed to referee a varsity match until I have been evaluated which will take place at the beginning of next season. I have played varsity soccer four years at Smith Academy High School, located in Hatfield, MA. It was pretty easy for me to become familiar with all of the specific rules and regulations that I have to uphold during each match. Now, with much experience so far this season, refereeing 15 matches so far, I feel very confident with my understanding and ruling. Most matches take place after school at 4 pm, so it is a perfect seasonal job that I enjoy doing because it is some extra spending money and good exercise running up and down the field!

You can find this picture at: www.tujsc.netspeed.com.au/Referees/Index.html

I am also currently taking classes for officiating high school girls and boys basketball games. Every Wednesday night at Dean Technical High School, I attend classes held by the IAABO #31, for learning the rules of officiating basketball games. I also played varsity basketball all four years at Smith Academy as well, so I have a pretty good general understanding of the rules. I have found that officiating basketball is going to be much more difficult than soccer, because of the many specific and diverse rules relating to possession of live ball and dead ball, as well as player and team possessions. I am looking forward to starting the games this winter and carrying over my seasonal job from the fall.

Officiating soccer and basketball for the next few years will be good experience for me at the high school level, because when I finish my masters degree here at Springfield, I will be looking for a coaching position at the junior varsity or varsity level in basketball!

Local Current Event

Pumpkin Fest 2009

Keene, New Hampshire


I attended Keene State College for my undergraduate degree in Physical Education Teacher Certification. During my studies there, I was lucky enough to attend a very special event that brings Keene much publicity and business. It is the annual Keene Pumpkin Fest, which took place this weekend. People travel to the small city and bring a pumpkin to place in the center of town. Many people carve their pumpkins and decorate them to show off during the festival. All of the local schools enter pumpkins that students decorate during art classes. The college also participates in this enormous event by allowing students to gather on the quad and carve pumpkins with friends and then place on the stands that are set up in the center of Keene. This is a very special event that has "put Keene on the map" and draws a lot of attention from all over New England. Many people travel from surrounding states to enjoy the sites of this Halloween characterized event.

This picture can be found at: http://www.choochicoos.com/

This event has brought so much attention to the city that local businesses, stores and hotels have thrived off of this single weekend from all of the travel. Keene also holds the Guinness World Record for the amount of pumpkins in one place. It is really a great experience to bring family or friends and enjoy good food and a great atmosphere during this Fall season!

Planning for Effective Instruction

During this weeks readings, I have found the information describing the necessary planning for effective instruction to be extremely critical to our success as teachers. I have always understood the importance of preparation since I was a young adult. One of my biggest fears is being unprepared for something important in my life. It is a terrible feeling knowing that you have a higher chance of failure because you did not properly prepare. I learned early in school, first in athletics, being "in-shape" for the start of whatever sport season I was getting into. I learned to prepare by running and training in the off season to be ready for the beginning of the season, and ready to give my best effort in practice. I carried that over in the classroom, to properly study for my exams, and be prepared to do my best on the assessment. You are always at a disadvantage when you come into a season out of shape, or going into a test without studying first. It is the same in the field of teaching, if you do not properly prepare for your instruction, you are not only putting yourself at a disadvantage, but also your students as well. Teachers have a very large responsibility, which is to prepare all of their students for the next level. Not only some of the students, but every single student that is taking their class. This is an incredible, sometime over-whelming, responsibility which places an enormous amount of pressure on the teacher. This pressure can be reduced greatly and calmed when a teacher understands how to effectively plan for a unit and lesson.

This is the most difficult part of teaching. Once you have all your planning properly accomplished, teaching is the easy part. All effective teachers have a specific detailed standard based curriculum that is designed for the their students age and skill level. Their planning ties the context, learning goals, learning activities, classroom management, and assessment within the specific model that they have chosen to engage their students in.

The first and most important aspect of effective planning is knowing your students. To be able to properly plan to maximize your students potential, you need to understand their specific needs, personalities, disabilities, and preferred learning processes. After you understand their general learning behaviors, you can then plan the specific instructional model and teaching strategies for high student learning!

Not a good day for New England sports fans

Sunday, October 11, 2009 will not go down as a memorable day for the New Englanders. Today, the only good thing that happened was the Chinese Food that I ate for dinner. First, early this afternoon, as you read in my previous blog, the Red Sox got swept by the Angles. Second, later on in the afternoon, the Patriots go down to the Denver Broncos. The Broncos advance to 5-0, and the Patriots fall to 3-2. Not the start that we were all hoping for this year with #12 back at the reign. Tom Brady had an incredible first half striking for 2 touchdowns, and then something happened in the second. The play calling was awful, running the ball on 1st and 2nd downs, and then throwing on 3rd hoping to pick up the 1st down. It looked like we were playing conservatively and trying not to lose the game, rather than win it. This did not look like the Patriots that I know. Their inconsistency throughout this early part of the year is starting to scare me. At first, I thought it was some "kinks" and "rust" they were brushing off after last year, but I do not see these faulty characteristics improving. Brady missed Randy Moss twice today, one for a touchdown in the 1st half, and then another for a large gain in the second.

This picture can be seen at: www.rfwiz.com/images/frequencies/newengland.gif

All I have to say is that this was a day in sports that we need to forget and move past. Thank god that tomorrow is Columbus day because it would have been a very tough Monday for sure. Now, tomorrow we will have a day to recover and put this past us. The Pats have Tennessee next weekend, and the Sox will have a new beginning next year. I can't think of a better way to feel better tomorrow then a nice round of golf at my country club at Hickory Ridge! Hopefully I wont play as bad as our teams did this weekend!

This picture can be found at: http://www.hickoryridgecc.com/

A Disappointing Post-Season

The Boston Red Sox fall today on a sweep by the Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels in game three of the American League Divisional Series. Jonathan Papelbon ruined the save by allowing three runs which eventually leaded to a 7-6 victory for the Angels. The Red Sox story of the series was that they couldn't get their bats going and score any runs. Their pitching was decent as well as their defense, but the Angels pitchers kept them at bay with good pitching which disabled any run support by the offense. By the looks of things, the Yankees will have a pretty good chance of winning it all this year. If they don't, some team will make an enormous upset. I am now officially done with the 2009 baseball season, because I could care less now without my beloved Red Sox out of it. Now, it is all Patriots and football, until the Celtics start their season this winter!

You can find this picture at: www.webring.com

There's always next year Terry Francona! Lets start building!

You can find this picture at: www.speedtv.com/forums/viewthread/468146

My Cross-Curriculum School-Wide Project!

You can find this picture at: www.baptistonmission.org

This year, being my second year of teaching, I have created and implemented a school-wide cross curriculum project for every class in the school. This program was developed to increase physical activity for our students and also the teachers and faculty. My program is called "The Selser Gold Rush". I created the name by using my schools name "Selser Elementary School" and the "Gold Rush" that took place in the United States in 1848. The idea is for our school, as a whole, working together, will walk across America and get to Sutters Mill, in Coloma, California to reach "the gold!" Two students in every class will wear a pedometer every day and at the end of the day they take it off and mark how many steps they achieved during their day in school. Not only do the students wear a pedometer, but the classroom teacher and para-professional will as well. I also divided our other staff in the school into groups and they share a pedometer as well. For example, the front office has my principle, vice-principle, two secretaries and our nurse that wears a pedometer one day of the week. I have set up cones on the soccer field and promote that students can jog, or walk around them during recess with their friends, instead of just sitting and talking. The students have engaged themselves in this program and really enjoy wearing the pedometer and seeking as many steps as they can. Students are so proud of how many steps they accomplished at the end of the day and it encourages others to try their best and be as active as they can as well. You can find this picture at: http://www.thepreppyprincess.wordpress.com/

The other half of the project is that every class is designated a specific state. During our journey we travel through 14 different states and they will research information on their state and present it to the entire school at the end of the year. This is where the cross-curriculum comes into play. Our science teacher gets into the land, environment, animals, plant life and lakes with them. Our classroom teachers teach about their states information: state bird, flag, song, inventors, inventions, historic events, and important people. Our music teacher teaches them about their states musical talents and specific songs and types of music. We are bringing it all together and at the same time being active, which fits into my teaching strategy perfectly: Learning while moving!

We have already walked over 700 miles, and are currently located in the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. I am very interested to see how long it will take us to get to California and walk across America!

Knowing your Students

After my readings in Metzler, I have continued to learn about instructional strategies and model based teaching. I have noticed that these instructional strategies are very important in directing and focusing students on the unit content, but what I have found more importantly is that not every strategy is going to be successful with your students. My point is that an effective teacher understands their students and knows what kind of strategies to use with them. An effective teacher knows their students strengths and weaknesses, and will be able to choose the correct strategy to maximize their interest and therefor their learning.

Every student has their own needs and preferences, and by understanding your specific students characteristics, you will be able to properly plan for them with developmentally appropriate activities. In Metzler, Reichmann and Grasha identify three bipolar dimensions to verify a student's preferred learning environment.

They are...

-avoidant/ participant

-competitive/ collaborative

-dependant/ independent

With these three preferred learning environments, students are better understood by specifically determining a students preferred condition of learning. There is six different profiles that your students can be described as. They are...

1. The Collaborative student

2. The competitive student

3. The participant student

4. The avoidant student

5. The independent student

6. The dependent student

The model that you choose will be most effective when its environment profile matches the profile of the majority of the students in your class. That is why it is so important to really know and understand your students. Being a physical education teacher, I have over 400 students that I teach. There are 3 classes to every grade (K-5) in my school, which is a total of 18 classes. It takes time and patience to understand your students, but you can do several things to help. First is that you can speak with their classroom teacher and ask about their behaviors and attitudes in class. They can help you so much, and you will be able to take that knowledge into your planning for your next lessons. You can also speak with the school guidance councilor or psychologist, to help you with behavior students, or others who do not want to participate, to see if you can better understand what will motivate them or make them more comfortable. After recognizing your students you will be able to now plan appropriately and increase your students learning.

Big Game for the PATS!

Yesterday, I went to the New England Patriots vs the Baltimore Ravens game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro! I can't describe the atmosphere that is created in Foxboro for these football games. When we were driving into the town, 3 miles from the stadium people are tailgating in store parking lots getting ready for the game. As we rolled our windows down driving into the stadium all you can smell are the grills with hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks and sausages for lunch before the 1 pm kickoff. The excitement and energy in the air is enormous, as well as contagious. People are decked out in Patriots gear from head to toe, as well as their vehicles with stickers, signs and flags representing the home team. Tailgating in the parking lot was incredible with people gathering together giddy with excitement to watch their beloved patriots. People are tossing the football and yelling chants looking at the stadium with joy!On top of it all, the weather was spectacular. On Saturday night, when I was doing work for my motor learning class, it poured which started to make me nervous. I was hoping the rain would stop for the morning and the weather would clear up. Sure enough, the clouds fizzled off and the sun started to shine right when we pulled into the parking lot!

The Raven were 3-0 coming into this past weekend and I knew how good of a team they really were. They have one of the best defenses in the league, if not the best, and their offense behind Joe Flaco is doing superb early this season. They lead the league in points and Flaco is looking a little like Mr. Brady. But the Pats came to play, and their defense shined even with injuries that have plagued them already early on this year. Vince Wilfork played with a sore ankle, and he made a huge difference in the middle. The offense did their job as well, with the return of Wes Welker, Tom Brady had one of his favorite targets back on the field!

What a game, what an event, what entertainment! A much needed time away from a busy schedule! Lastly, the patriots came away with a Win, thankfully from a dropped ball by the Ravens with 30 seconds left! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! Only sometimes....

Time Management

I believe that one of the most critical characteristics of an Effective Teacher is time management. A successful physical education teacher will properly plan their lessons for age and skill level appropriate activities and content for their students. They will ensure 80% of class time will be ALT-PE and their students will understand that PE is not recess, but an important class where they will learn how to be healthy, as well as being very active to become healthy. As we all know, we are subjected to a very short amount of time with our students, and that is a key element that makes our time management very critical.

Have you ever timed the different parts of your lessons? How long does it take for your students to enter the gymnasium? How long is your introduction? The most important question is how long do your students have to be active in class? Are you preparing your classes for maximum activity time for your students? If your not, then you need to reconsider your preparation and review the objectives for your classes.

Students need to move and learn at the same time. I like to combine my activities with important information that I want my students to learn during class. I only have my students sitting for no longer than a minute or two, and it is usually in between activities to take a little break and catch their breaths. I like to call my teaching strategies: Learning on the Move.

You can find this picture at: http://www.discovermagazine.com

Time management is also very important outside of teaching your classes. Giving yourself plenty of time to research and plan for your lessons is very significant. This strictly relates to your student learning and maximizing your students potential. Teaching full time and coming back to school here at Springfield has proven to be quite the task, but with good time management it can successfully be done. Planning ahead of time when you need to study and do your work is critical, especially when you want to keep a social life on the weekends. Lastly, we all need time to ourselves. It is very easy to get run down, and exhausted with everything that is going on in our lives, that is why we need to find time for leisure and pleasure so we can keep our sanity in these very busy times of our lives!

Our beautiful New England

You can find this picture at: http://www.rbytes.net

Now, in the beginning of October we are starting to see the beautiful colors of the foliage season! Autumn is by far my favorite time of the year, not just because of the beautiful scenery that we have here in New England, but because the weather is just right! I love our sunny afternoons in the 60's and our comfortable sleeping weather when it gets down to the 50's and 40's at night. The Fall weather is not too cold and not too warm, which makes it perfect to take a walk or jog through town to exercise and enjoy the beautiful colors in our trees!

And it doesn't stop there, this time of the year for sports is very exciting! We have the NFL season in full gear with incredible games all day Sunday and Monday nights. College football is rocking and rolling on Saturday and Saturday nights, and lastly we have the Major League Baseball playoffs! Personally, I feel spoiled in Autumn because of all these exciting things happening all at once. I love being outside and this is a terrific time to do just that. As we all know, the snow is right around the corner, and the weather will be in the teens for a long time this winter. That means we need to take advantage of this beautiful weather we have now, before we are stuck indoors.

Go Red Sox and Patriots!

Assertive Discipline

Assertive discipline is an example of a school-wide discipline plan that every teacher in the school follows. Being an elementary physical education teacher, it is great to be able to follow a school-wide plan. I have my own rules for inside the gymnasium, but I also incorporate the school wide behavior rules as well. Our school wide discipline plan is.....SOARING TO SUCCESS

S-Stay safe

O-Offer a helping hand

A-Aim to achieve

R-Respect yourself, others, our environment and our school

I always ask my students: How high are you soaring?

Our school mascot is a seahawk, so I have pictures of a Selser Seahawk soaring high over the mountains "Soaring high for Success!"

If students go above and beyond the SOARING expectations (ex: helping the teacher pick up equipment, chairs, material, etc.) they will receive a boarding pass. This boarding pass is very important because at the end of every month, if they have received 7 or more passes, then they will get a prize, or be invited to an ice cream party!

I am on the Soaring to success team committee, and we decide on prizes and different criteria that students need to accomplish to receive a boarding pass. I believe that this discipline plan has been very effective, and the students are responding very nicely.