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Connie Sgriccia's Teaching Philosophy

It has often been said, “There is nothing more important than one’s health.” This certainly is a belief that I hold, and it is my motivation when teaching my students. One of my main goals is to encourage students and help them understand the importance of practicing healthy habits daily; including good nutrition and some form of physical activity. I try to make physical education a positive learning experience for all by giving students opportunities for success based on their individual developmental level. This is one reason PFA has been a nice fit with our curriculum. Through the PFA outdoor fitness circuit students are able to set personal goals, challenging themselves to increase their fitness levels. I often tell my students that if there is one thing I’d like them to take away from me when they leave sixth grade, it is to be able to set personal goals in everything they do and always work to be the best that they can be. By being encouraging and supportive and modeling positive behavior, I believe we give kids the opportunity to learn values that will help them in everyday life.

How the PFA Program Has Been Used

	The PFA curriculum has really been a nice addition to our existing curriculum. I have incorporated the chart and challenge as a way to motivate my intermediate students to work at increasing their fitness levels. The outdoor fitness center is used by all students in my classes and during recess. Kids love to see their name on the wall for achieving bronze, silver, and gold levels. I have used the pacer to promote cardiovascular fitness and endurance and using the heavy hoops for activities has been a fun way to increase abdominal strength.

With my primary students I’ve incorporated the word wall as another link to academics. It is located in the gym hallway as we exit the building to our outside play area. We often stop and sound out letters to add words that focus on health and physical activities that we do in class.

I have made use of the PFA core curriculum adapting some of the stations and indoor lessons to fit my needs. Students particularly love the Breakout game, and a favorite outdoor lesson has to be Beat the Ball Covey Style. Fitness cup building activities have been a real hit with my students. They enjoy lessons from the core curriculum like the “double track cup attack”.

I’ve also adapted the use of the cups with my existing units. I have conducted different challenges such as earning cups after students do basketball cross-over dribbles to a hoop and make a shot, or soccer dribbling toward a goal, trap and shoot. Students love creating buildings or sculptures with the earned cups. Partner and small group work is often included in the cup building. My younger students build letters in their name or design buildings, towers, or playgrounds.

Programs and Activities

In addition to teaching my regular schedule, I’m involved in some other programs and activities that I enjoy. This is my third year of implementing an action based learning lab with my kindergarten students. The program is based upon the work of Dr. Jean Blaydes Madigan, which involves brain research that supports the link of movement and physical activity to increased academic performance. I run the lab each morning for twenty minutes. It consists of a series of progressions and stations, each designed to prepare the brain for learning. It includes sensory components of balance, coordination, spatial awareness and visual tracking. It has been a great way to start our day!

Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart is an activity that I have coordinated throughout the years. With the assistance of our guidance counselor, Mrs. Jill DaBella, we have partnered to make this a unique event. The event has become part of our character education program. It is based on the trait of the month. In the past we have used healthy living, kindness, giving, etc. In addition to the physical activities of jumping and shooting hoops we devote time to discussing our positive trait and what it means in relationship to this event. It has been very successful.

Each month, as part of our character education, we conduct a “starfish day” in reference to how each of us can make a difference in the lives of others. It is a day where we gather an entire grade level each period in the gym, and participate in a variety of games and activities that reinforce our character trait of the month. There is a lot of team building and cooperative social interaction as a result of this program, and our kids really enjoy it. Our culminating activity at the end of the school year is a luau (field day) as a celebration of starfish behavior (positive behavior) throughout the year. A variety of games and activities is enjoyed by all!

Last year we partnered with Indiana Regional Medical Center, our PFA sponsor to offer the WE CAN program to our families. This was a four session evening program conducted by a representative from IRMC. She taught the adults about healthy eating and nutrition, while I volunteered to provide fitness activities in the gym for the children. This is just another way we hope to get out the message of staying healthy for life.

Support People That Have Helped With Physical Education Programming

I would sincerely like to thank Indiana Regional Medical Center, our PFA sponsor, who made this grant possible. A special thanks goes to Mrs. Bonnie Davis our former principal, now director of student services, who believed in this program and wrote this grant. Also thank you to Mr. Grimaldi, our principal who has supported my efforts with PFA. Most importantly thanks to my students who work hard every day trying to improve their fitness levels!