Post #1:
My fear walking into this course came from two letters, P.E. The context around which I know this subject falls into what I would categorize as negative. I have never really enjoyed P.E. and it has strayed quite far from those subjects in which I would consider favorites. To write that I was walking into this course with even a semi-positive frame of mind would be like a smile, the same smile one carries on their first day at a new school, the one that hides the nerves… I was not looking forward to what was to come.
As you begin to meet people however, and discover friendly faces among the crowd, the nerves slowly dissipate and the fears you had fade to a minimal existence. This is how I felt as we began our free play. I began to remember what P.E. was like as a child, and as a joined in on a game of passing a volleyball around, my new friends became reassurances that we were in this together.
By the end of the day I found a new respect for P.E. that I had lost somewhere along my journey through school. Perhaps it is that I am now considering it from the perspective of a teacher, or that I feel comfortable enough with the people I am around to know that P.E. is not a competition and therefore I do not have to be the best. This experience is about growth and so my new found appreciation for P.E is just the beginning.
Wow, Tara! I could not have said it better myself! When you said that your previous experiences with PE can be classified as “negative”, I looked back on my own experiences with PE and remembered the teachers and activities I participated in and realized that the majority of my time in PE was not so great. I had teachers who played favourites or designed their classes around the star athletes to improve their skills but everyone else’s. It seems as though it is a common experience for some of us, which is important as we continue on our journey to become elementary school teachers; that we have to look at our negative experiences to know what to do differently in order to create a better classroom for our students! You rock Tara!
I can’t even begin to express how well you’ve described my own views on P.E. as well. I’ve always been quiet and content to blend into the background, so the very concept of getting out there and physically performing in front of people was an absolutely anxiety-inducing experience for me. It definitely didn’t help that I was (and honestly still am) pretty clumsy! I’ll be honest–when I heard that we had a P.E. class, I was absolutely overwhelmed by dread.
But, just like you, I found it to be far more enjoyable than I had expected! A huge part of that is definitely the fact that we have an amazingly supportive and friendly cohort, and for the first time since 7th grade I actually find myself excited by the prospect of P.E. (which I’m both pleased by and find absolutely nutty). I agree 100% with your last paragraph especially–we’ve had our negative experiences, but now it’s time to take that and use it to help us grow rather than let it weigh us down with dread.
Here’s to learning together throughout the year!
Tara (and the rest of the students who have had negative experiences in P.E.), I am really sorry that you have harbored such negative feelings towards this area of school. I think that I have enjoyed the experience for the same reasons that you may have not. I reveled in the competitive aspects of sports and games. By the time I got into grade 11 and 12 the curriculum had changed significantly and not just offered me sports and outdoor activities but also a chance to expand leadership skills, coaching, first aid, kinesiology and many other topics that were not offered in the lower grades. If these subjects had been broached at an earlier grade would you have had a different experience I wonder. A broader scope to the curriculum enriched my experience exponentially. I like the idea of revamping the curriculum for girls after grade 10 to be tailored towards a more feminine scope including, fitness, yoga, nutrition, ect. I have discussed this with a number of people and many of the women agree that their experience in physical education would have been vastly different if this option had been offered. Do you think that yours would have been different as well?
Travis, you bring up a very good point. Yes I more then likely would of had a completely different experience had there been a more feminine aspect of P.E. for girls to join. However, I think what affected me more during my years of P.E. was that these classes were much more inviting to the male population then they were to me. Regardless of the topics that P.E. addressed I did not like the segregation that put me, as a female, below my male classmates. I felt as though I was always competing against my male counterparts in aspects I was not as competent in, and therefore it was not about my personal growth in my own physical literacy, but instead about who was better then I was. So while I think the content may have made a difference I also believe that, had the experience of P.E. correlated more with my own journey, my experience would have been much more positive.
Tara, we are in the same boat!! You know what? I was shocked when I heard we all have to take P.E. in this semester. I have always been in fear walking into the P.E. classroom. I remembered when I was in grade 10, I didn’t enjoy the P.E. class at all. My P.E. teacher wasn’t that good. He always liked to make us run for 30 minutes during the class. So that’s why I always been in anxiety when I am in the P.E. classroom.
On our first day of P.E. class at UBC, when I walked into the classroom and I thought it was going to be scary. But actually, the class was not that bad at all. I have to agree with you that everyone in ABC cohort is friendly and awesome. I did find myself quite comfortable in this class. I had lots of fun during the free play activity with others. I know we both had our negative experiences and it’s always good to look back. So when you are teaching, this can help you to create a different aspect of teaching and a new atmosphere to the classroom. You can do it Tara!!
I just wanted to say that I think it’s so cool that Tara’s post started such a great thread of comments!! I really enjoyed reading the replies. Thanks for sharing!