A few days in Tampa

One of the things I really LOVE about teaching PE is the great conferences I get to go to. In the past I have been to: Atlanta, St Louis, Reno, Orlando, New Orleans, Mobile, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Ft Worth and now Tampa. It's like a mini vacation, but I get to go to these awesome workshops taught by some of the best PE teachers in the country. I usually take away 3 -4 great ideas to try in my classes.

Seeing old friends is another thing I love about it. Since moving from Tulsa, I get together with the Oklahoma crowd at the conventions every year. And now I have my Tennessee friends to hang out with too! :-) I'll put some pictures up here later...

This year - with it being in Tampa - we had to go to the beach!!! Yay! So Thursday afternoon I went with my Memphis buddies and Friday afternoon I went with my Tulsa buddies. The sand was awesome!!!! It was white, soft, and did not burn your feet!!! The water was actually warm enough to swim in! I love just sitting, listening to the waves and smelling the salt air. I could have stayed all day!

Here's a game that I will try next week with my PE classes. It's called 3 team kickball. It's very crazy!!! Basically it's two games being played at the same time. You play in a gym (or on the field) with one team on defense and the other two teams are kicking.
1. Divide all students into 3 teams.
2. 2 Fields set up on a basketball court.
3. 1 team will be in the out-field, playing both fields at the same time, while 2 teams are up to bat.
4. The pitcher of one field is the left fielder for the other field, etc.
5. Each team will get 5 outs, then rotate to the outfield. Teams rotate quickly once the game gets started.
6. Facility rules (various per gym) Example:
• Ball hits the ceiling, (basketball hoops, speakers) automatic out.
• Unlimited fouls, or 3 foul balls is an out, allow kicker to kick a
stationery ball.
• No bunting, unless the facilitators allows.
• NO CHUCKING the ball at a runner, MUST TAG with ball in HAND for an out
(baseball rules).

The cool thing about this game is how the kids have to work together to get anything done. I'll try and video the game during my classes and post it here for anyone to watch...... Should be a blast! :-)