Читать книгу Keeping the Whole Child Healthy and Safe - Marge Scherer - Страница 27

Although fitness and sports should be an important part of a comprehensive physical education program, we can go beyond the traditional P.E. class—not only by changing the activities we offer, but also by changing our own mind-set, attitude, and expectations. We can't do this well, however, in schools where students take physical education for only one term a year, or where teachers are expected to get to know 200–500 students. Although class ratios in many schools may be capped at 25–30 students per teacher, many physical education teachers see individual students only briefly as they rotate through "specials" for one quarter of their year.

As a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools founded by Theodore R. Sizer (www.essentialschools.org), Parker is guided by the belief that teachers should know students well. Our abilities to assess the needs of each student, to have honest and timely conversations, and to build trust are directly related to our small student loads.

An emphasis on differentiated instruction also helps. Instead of requiring that all students approach physical games in exactly the same way, we should acknowledge that students have different learning styles and proficiency levels. Why not offer students a tee to hit the softball, or operate on the principle that there are no strike-outs and that the score doesn't matter?

During a game of kickball, 7th grader Katie said to me, "I'm not kicking. Jackie will do it for me; I just want to run." Such a request isn't unusual, and I told her it was OK. Instead of letting her off the hook for the entire game, however, I spent a few minutes chatting with her about what exactly was keeping her from kicking—a long list that included fear that she would stub her toe, that she would miss the ball completely, and that she would look "stupid" and "everyone would laugh." Kickball puts the kicker in a visible and vulnerable place with everyone watching as he or she steps up to the plate.

After our conversation and some encouragement from her friends, Katie eventually agreed to kick. She missed the ball her first time, kicked a foul backwards over our heads the second time, and grazed the ball for a single on her third try. No one laughed. Life went on. I think she will remember moments like these, as I do, and know that she has the potential to try something that she might not immediately be good at. When we take the time to develop a strong sense of community and safety in our classes, we help make such moments possible.

Leaving a few minutes at the end of class to debrief sports activities can further strengthen the norm of exploring possibilities and encourage students to approach novel experiences with confidence instead of fear. One of the tools that I often use for such debriefing is called Captain, Crew, and Passenger. We take turns going around the circle, saying what role we most often took on during the previous activity—captain, meaning any kind of leadership role; crew, working or helping the group to succeed; or passenger, just listening and going along for the ride.

The message I aim to send is that there is no value judgment on these roles—we certainly couldn't be successful with 26 captains! Then, I ask the students in my classes to think about taking on different roles in future games. If they are most comfortable being a captain, I ask them to "try just listening next time. Let someone else take over. It might be hard, but it's worth trying." In the same way, I encourage habitual passengers to speak up and try out a more active role.

Finally, as educators we need to model healthy risk-taking for students. I'm relatively comfortable teaching in front of large groups, answering detailed questions about sexuality, and making a fool of myself playing games that sometimes involve clucking like a chicken or howling like a wolf. However, I also perform on the flying trapeze, and my nervousness before shows can bring me almost to tears. Having this experience of walking the line between stretching myself and full-out panic has made me more sensitive to the way students experience my class, and I make sure to share my own stories like this throughout the year.

We don't all need to fly through the air or jump out of airplanes to demonstrate our willingness to take risks—we can be silly, sing in public, laugh at ourselves, and simply let our students see us try out new lessons we aren't sure will work. Kids know when we let ourselves be vulnerable, and although it's almost guaranteed that they won't congratulate us at that moment, they will remember—and they will be more likely to let themselves be vulnerable in the future.