For the past few weeks our students have been learning to jump rope. During this unit we have Jump Rope Clubs- students can jump and earn bookmarks based on the number of jumps they are able to do in a row. See the picture below. The Hot Dog Club is for students once they finish 400.
Well through the unit students can get frustrated and they have to push thru all the adversity that comes with learning something new. This becomes interesting especially for our more athletic students. 
One of my 1st graders Treshaun was in that exact boat. Today I saw him come in and get excited about earning bookmarks only to find out that he wasn't as good as he thought he was. We talked about it and he told me 'Mrs Davis I'm not giving up!' I praised him and encouraged him to continue to do his best. I gave him some pointers after watching him jump and went on to to other students. When I came back around he told me he was ready! He struggled but after a few tries he was able to get 10 jumps and his first bookmark.
He was so amazingly proud of himself and I wish I could have captured the emotion in his smile as he realized he had done it!
You see, it's more than sports in PE! It's more than kids being physically active for their required 30 minutes each week. It's so much more than any of that. Man, it's so MUCH MORE! It's life lessons. It's learning to overcome what they thought they were not able to do. Treshaun learned today that if he worked hard and put forth the effort he would be able to accomplish his goal- and that's why I do what I do EVERYDAY! So worth all of the planning, frustrations and sacrifices put in every day.
