Last week of 2009!

Just like I started last post- I still can't believe it's December! This year has been moving so fast. Before we know it spring break will be here!

For the last couple weeks we have been focusing on basketball skills. We have been mainly focusing on dribbling and shooting, but now we are getting into a little bit of how the game is played with the older kids. It has been really neat to see the progress from all the students.

I do have a couple of fun days in-store for the classes at the end of the week. I know they are going to be extremely excited to have a couple weeks off! So, we are going to break out some of our favorite large group games on Thursday and Friday, and really let them burn off some energy!!

I hope everyone has a safe holiday break!!
Coach Jones

Holiday time!

I still can't believe we are already in November. It seems like the school year just started! We have been pretty busy since the last post. We covered kicking, introduced some fun tag games, learned new warm-ups, worked on some more throwing and catching, got the older kids into some modified games of flag football, and got the younger ones some work on dribbling!! The best part is the weather hasn't really been messing us up too bad!

As we get into the cooler months of fall please make sure your child has on a jacket in the morning. I know we have been having some awesome afternoons, but the mornings are staying fairly cool. The older grades (5th, 4th, and 3rd) are the first ones out for PE. We are usually starting some type of work outside by 9:00am.

One last thing!! The lost and found- it is crazy. If your child has misplaced a jacket or sweatshirt please stop by the table just outside the gym doors. There are still quite a few items on the table. I believe the unclaimed items will be donated to charity over the week of Thanksgiving!

thanks for all you parents do!!
Coach Jones

Floatin' on to the next unit..

What a crazy last couple of days. I hope that everyone was able to be safe and not have too much water damage around the house!

We are moving on to our next unit. We are going to be a couple days behind, but it shouldn't be a problem. This week we are starting kicking. The kids really get into this one. We go over basic skills on how to kick (short distance, long distance, and punts), and with the older kids we get into some soccer and modified soccer games.

Today the weather has been great. A little muggy, but not too bad. So far everyone has done a great job! We told the students about one big similarity between kicking and throwing. See if they can remember!

Thanks and I'll let you know how things are in PE land soon!

Coach Jones

Up Next..

Well, we got through fitness testing without too many problems. A few students didn't wear the right shoes a couple of times, but over all, it went just fine. I know the students are glad to get it over with, although it does seem like some of them would just like to fitness test all the time.

Kindergarten update-
The little guys and girls are doing just great. They are well accustomed to our warm-ups, their squads, and most any type of transitions between activities. They have surprised me. They are a really good bunch!

Onto everyone-
We have been focusing on throwing and catching. Everyone from kindergarten to 5th grade has been working on this in some way. We have introduced the skills to everyone, and now we are incorporating them into stations and games. The students are throwing everything from bean bags, to onion balls (you can ask them what that is), and even footballs.

Up next for us-
We will be moving along with some more skills work. Once we finish throwing and catching we will jump right on into kicking and then onto striking. We will be visiting these skills additional times through the year as well!

Tell your little ones to keep up the good work!
Thanks!
Coach Jones

National Standards

Below I am listing the 6 standards set forth by The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Each activity that we do in PE will have some relation to at least one of these standards. Many times, our activities will relate to multiple if not all of them. Here they are:

Standard 1- Demonstrates competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical tasks.

Standard 2- Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities.

Standard 3- Participates regularly in physical activity.

Standard 4- Achieves and maintains a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.

Standard 5- Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings.

Standard 6- Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and/or social interaction.


Parents, please remember- I see your children 2-3 days a week. You see your kids a lot more. Please, stress the importance of physical activity with your children.

Thanks!
Coach Jones

Welcome Back!!

What a great start to the school year! Things have been running very smooth these first few days. Hopefully we can keep it up!

Here are some things on the horizon for PE

1.) Reviewing large group games- we like to start with some of our “rainy day” large group games. They really get the kids excited about PE, and it also give us a chance to review the rules and procedures for each activity.

2.) 3rd – 5th grades: Fitness testing! For the last couple of years Cobb County has been using the Fitness Gram Fitness Test to evaluate our students. You can find information on the series of tests at www.fitnessgram.net We will be recording and tracking the scores for the 4th and 5th grades.

K-2nd grades: Intro to fitness/fitness practice. These grade levels will have practice time with the tests just to get them familiar with the different activities. We are not going to be tracking scores.

Thanks for checking in,

Coach Jones

Catching up...Just in time.

Man, we’ve had a ton going on here at Davis this past month! Everything from Field Day, to fitness testing and fund raising to Chipper Jones! Yes, Just incase your child didn’t tell you- we had a little visit from Atlanta Braves 3rd baseman Chipper Jones.

I won’t go in to all the details of why he came (if you look back one post you will see why). I will just tell you that he was a really great guy, and the kids LOVED the assembly. Chipper spoke to the entire school for a few minutes. He explained his connection to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), and then he fielded some questions that were submitted ahead of time by some Davis students. After that he posed for a few photos, and then had to head out. He had a game that night at Turner Field!

Brave's Mascot "Homer"

Me, Chipper, Jenny (my wife), and Bryce!

Well now that you know Chipper came out to visit I guess you can figure out that our school won the CFF fundraiser competition! Our school raised $6,000 for the CFF. I was very impressed. What is even more impressive is that we did it in one week of school, just 5 short days! We had 2 classes that stood out in our fundraiser. They both happen to be 5th grade classes: Mrs. Watson’s class raised $640 and Mrs. Hintz’s class just nudged them out to take the top spot with a total of $652. Both of these classes got to meet Chipper and have their picture taken with him.

Before I go on to the next topic I have to say one thing- Thank you. As most of you know, my son was born in July 2008, and was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at 3 weeks of age. We got his diagnosis right at the end of the first week of school. It was not an easy thing to hear. Once my wife and I had some time to let it sink in, we both felt like we needed to do our part as CF parents. One of my ideas was to do a fundraiser (to take the place of our normal PE fundraiser for the American Heart Association). I wasn’t quite sure how successful it would be, but I wanted to give it a shot. I never thought we would raise 6,000 dollars in 5 days. I can’t wait to do this again next year…and have Chipper visit us again!

Parents, thank you very much. I was amazed by your generosity, and excited that the Davis family was able to help in the fight against CF.

Next topic- Field Day!

Field Days were a blast! I know we ran into a little it of bad weather on the first day, but we made it work! We moved events into empty classrooms all around the school. The K-2 graders seemed to not even know the difference. We did catch a little break in the weather for the 3rd and 4th graders. We were able to get them out side and stick to our normal field day activities. On the morning of 5th grade field day we were a little nervous, but the weather ended up holding out just in time!

I do have to say a HUGE thank you to my parent volunteers who came and helped run events! We really couldn’t do it without you! Hopefully we can get all of you back again next year. I do have to say a VERY special thank you to Mrs. Georges. She really did all the work to make these days happen. A quick bit of background- I was stranded in Orlando FL on a weekend vacation that ended up lasting until Tuesday night at midnight…thanks to some major car trouble! While I was stuck down there Jenny was feverishly working to get things ready for Field Days! So, if you see Mrs. Georges in the hallway tell her thanks for all her hardwork!

Last thing- Fitness Testing

The last couple of weeks we have been squeezing in our fitness testing! We are tracking each student on 5 fitness tests- sit and reach, pacer, pushups, shoulder stretch, and trunk lift. For more details on the tests you can go to the fitness gram web site: http://www.fitnessgram.net/

I hope everyone has a safe summer! Be sure to stay active!!

Coach Jones