Yesterday we were given the chance to explore the grand concept of volleyball! Growing up I can easily say that volleyball was my least favorite sport. I had chicken arms and a lack of coordinator, which made every time I hit the ball feel painful. Include the lack of support from classroom peers and the teacher equals a lack of love for this wonderful sport. To this day I will never say ‘I LOVE VOLLEYBALL!’, but I will say that a positive atmosphere makes all the difference. Today’s group that presented showed the class that providing a high energy environment is possible without the competitiveness. Instead that provided constructive criticism and positive feedback without singling out anyone in the class. This made even the most
The last two weeks have also given me some more ideas when it comes to classroom management. While our presenters have provided high content lessons, I see key difference between teaching children and teaching adults when these lessons are performed. I feel like classroom management in a class may not be a challenge for me, but perhaps a PE gym class will be more difficult. I will need to invest in a whistle and be specific when I give instructions on who is to do what, what line the children will stand on, where the balls will go at the end of the activity, and so forth. Watching our last group pair us off into separate activities made me think ‘that’s so cool! But can I do that?’ It might take some time, but I’m up for the challenge!
2 thoughts on “Iris’ Movement Journal – Week Three”
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Thank you so much for sharing Iris. I know I come from a little bit of a different view towards P.E. class. P.E. was always my favorite class in high school. I especially loved playing sports and volleyball being one of the top sports I enjoyed playing in P.E.
Reflecting back to my high school years, I realize I was not very inclusive to the students who were not as good at the sport as I was. I am very competitive and wanted to be playing against other students who were able to challenge me and compete at my level. I remember being frustrated with some of my fellow students because they were not able to keep up, or made a lot of mistakes. So I am very aware now of how maybe I could have been one of the reasons why some people do not enjoy P.E. as much, and I feel guilty for that. I hope that having realized this now, that I am able to recognize this in my own P.E. class while teaching. I hope that I will be able to make P.E. not just for the athletic students to enjoy, but for ALL students. I hope that I am able to encourage students to more aware of their physical abilities (being all different) and the health benefits of eating healthy and being active. I hope they may know that being active is not just through playing sports, for there are so many other ways to be physically active.
Iris, I can relate to your feeling that a positive learning environment is so crucial to success. I have good experiences of volleyball, but they mostly took place outside the P.E. class! My family used to go camping with a few other families when I was growing up, and we’d all play volleyball on the beach. It was relatively shortly after we’d moved to Canada and I was shy and had no skill but everyone was so determined to include me and help! They were gracious with my mistakes and I felt so relaxed I gained quite a bit of skill and had so much fun. I had one or two embarrassing experiences, but amongst family and friends they just don’t matter!
I felt similar at Friday’s gym class. I was making mistakes but at one point Terence gave me some really helpful feedback and I noticed an immediate difference to the way I served! There wasn’t the sense of trying to gain approval or prove myself to anybody (a common feeling through high school P.E.), so I had fun. I think that physical literacy definitely involves having the confidence and motivation to be active through life. This is very easily developed through an inclusive, non-judgmental environment. Skills are much easier to develop in this setting!