Friday August 10^th 2012

Day Twenty Five and Mountain Creek State High School

First session of the day I took my year 12 REC class out to the oval and I run into about 6 kangaroos. I absolutely love seeing these guys just hanging around. They are literally 20 feet away from us sunbathing on the grass. I planned to teach the students ultimate Frisbee not expecting it to be so windy! Some of these students already have a lack of motivation, and we have a small number, making any lesson hard to teach. I knew this going into it and I really tried to just let it roll off my shoulder. It is truly hard to let it go when I deeply care for the education of these students. I think because some of them do not plan to go to University and school is done soon they just do not care anymore. Three of the students have injuries, two of the students do not care or want to participate, leaving me with 6 students willing to try. I taught the basics of throwing and catching a Frisbee and went through some rules of the game. Once the students were done with their practicing drills we tried to get into a game. It was way too windy for a Frisbee so instead we played the game with a netball. The students got bored after a little bit and we ended up playing a game of touch. Honestly this has got to be the longest session I have ever taught. It is so hard to give energy when there is none coming back. Two boys are completely disrespectful and make comments to me that I just cannot stand. It was very hard for me to be okay with this, but there really is not much hope for them so I try not to let their attitudes highly affect me. Because we only had about 6 students really trying, the class dragged on! I was really happy once the bell rang. Session 2 was aerobics which always runs smooth. I just keep getting more excited to see the final routines. Some of the groups will be great! Session 3 I had my year 8 HPE class out on the oval for the second time. I decided we should give touch another go. This time I had a better idea how to structure and manage them. The drills went by quicker and they seemed to be getting along with the skills better. Once we got into game play it is noticeable this class is not very skilled, however they were all moving around and trying which was a great treat to watch. It is hard for me when refereeing because I am not an expert in Touch. There are literally so many variations of the game rugby it’s hard to remember which rule applies. I think this lesson went much better than the first lesson but I know I will still have things to improve on with these younger students. Because they are younger and less experience, they just do not catch on as quickly as my year 12 students. What they do have though is energy and it really makes me happy to see them trying and getting into the game. During morning tea today we had a staff meeting in a large room. I played a special role today, and it was an honor. My name was called and I was recognized for coaching the girls’ volleyball team last weekend. I was even given an award starting I was there certified coach for the tournament and it was signed by the PE director and everything! It was so nice to see my name on that award, I was a true coach. I had my 2 minutes of fame and sure enjoyed it. Thank goodness it is Friday, I am ready to relax.