The 12 Days of Fitness & Looking Ahead

Can it really be Sunday already???

I have read from several other bloggers that they go back to work tomorrow.  It's hard to believe that the summer has flown so quickly.  I don't go back until August 27th (the kids start the day after Labor Day) but we don't get out until June 11th next year so it all balances out in the end. 

My National Writing Project experience at UW-Milwaukee is over.  It was a GREAT time and I learned SO much.  I am looking forward to getting back into my classroom, school, and district to share some of the great things that I have learned.  (If you want to read about any of them, you can search by the "Labels" section to the right.)

So now that I can focus on something other than that, I am excited to link up with two great bloggers today for their linky parties.

First, the fabulous Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching.  I absolutely LOVE Joanne...she is absolutely hilarious and always has such great ideas on her blog. Not to mention, she shares my love for Post-Its.  I hope you will check it out!

We all know how important it is to have brain breaks in the classroom.  Sometimes, kids just need to get a little oxygen to their brains to keep that thinking moving.  That's where the Twelve Days of Fitness comes in!

Credits: 
Paper:  I Teach What's Your Superpower?
Font:  Hello Fonts by Jen Jones
Clip Art:  Jeanette Baker of Jason's Online Classroom

This active song, sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a great way to get kids moving in a very short amount of time and the students LOVE it!

You start off by singing, "On the first day of fitness, my teacher gave to me, one stork stand" and the students stand on one leg like a stork.  Then "On the second day of fitness, my teacher gave to me, two scissor kicks and a stoooorrrrrk stand" and act out both movements.  The song continues until all of the 12 days are finished....or you can roll dice to see how many days you will sing that time if you don't have time for all 12 days.

I wish I could take credit for this great idea, but it belongs to the California Department of Public Health and their Power Up for Learning campaign.  They have so many great ideas in this PDF about how to get students moving!  I hope you will check it out!

I also want to link up with Latoya at Flying into First for her Let's Get Acquainted linky.

This week's topic:

Upcoming School Year Goals

 

I have to admit, I am an overachiever when it comes to setting goals so I am going to try to limit myself to goals that I feel are really important to me this year (and not just "nice to try for").

1.   Incorporate the great ideas that I learned from the UWM-WP this summer.  So many great ways to get kids writing!  Specifically, I will focus on collaboration in writing and e-portfolios.

2. Share those great ideas with my colleagues to help them become better teachers of writing.  I am heading up my district's writing committee so this will be a great opportunity to share!

3.  Incorporate my technology into my classroom and instruction.

I think three is a good number, don't you?  I am going to focus really hard on these three things to make them happen! 

For those of you returning to work tomorrow, I wish you well!  May this be your best year ever! 

See you tomorrow for Monday Made-It with 4th Grade Frolics!