August 10th

Today was a great day full of lessons!  Cameron has been slightly hiding during our classes lately so the kids know that I am fully in charge but he is close enough to still give me great feedback.

First lesson was basketball with Mr.Finley’s class and after teaching them all the basic skills, its time to put all of them together during a game. I just found out that they get video taped during class to send to the central district to compare to other schools. It isn’t to see how the kids are doing but to see if the grading is equal among the school. So if students in my class are getting C’s and B’s, the amount of work they are putting into class should be the same as another school’s C or B level. After learning this, now I know why Mr.Finley wants the students to step it up and really learn the tactical and logical side of the game. We worked on the point guard dribbling down the court playing one on one and having another offensive player setting a pick for the shot or pass. It took many demonstrations and explanations to get them to set a pick right. Most of them were moving their feet while setting one or waving their arms around. They eventually got it and we used this as a requirement to get a point in the full court games. The next few lessons will be focused on getting them to spread out, slow down game play and not rush, and using picks to get open. Mr. Finley also told me that part of this class is teaching strategies. Which means that one class we will put all the dominant players on one team and another class we will do absolutely nothing. Im not 100% sure why this is done in the course but I gather it will make the kids respect and appreciate teachers a lot more.

My lesson with year 12 lacrosse went really good today. They were more understanding and into the game than yesterday. The girls also dominated today and scored most of the goals. It is really hard to play lacrosse with out proper goals, a lot of time is wasted chasing after balls even if I have designated ball fetchers. It was still hard to get them to do a drill but I had a much better attitude today and didn’t get as frustrated.

Last lesson of the day went awesome as well. We did speedball with them because they have only played it for one lesson and we usually do activities in two’s, plus I wasn’t there last Friday to teach it. They listened really well and wanted to run around because it was a bit cold out today. They got into the game and again, the girls dominated. Girls rocked today and I was so happy to cheer them on because usually the boys don’t pass to them and leave them out. Some kids were complaining to me about the calls I was making because I called a few intentional trips and not the ones that happened on accident. Most of the time kids just want the call in their favor or else they get upset. After years of reffing soccer, Ive learned which trips and pushes are intentional, whose pushing who and which calls I need to make. It’s funny though to watch these kids complain because I did the exact same thing when I was their age.

All in All…great day. Tomorrow we are going to our Deputy Principals house with a bunch of P.E. staff members and their families for a bbq. Beka and I are bringing chicken wing dip because they don’t eat it here. Should be lots of fun!