Do you remember the first time you played badminton, or ping-pong, or volleyball and you did not have the hand-eye coordination to get the birdie or ball to go where it was intended to go? My students are not exposed to many of the skill required to play team or lifetime sports.
My student are very competitive in nature but lack the money to purchase equipment to play badminton, ping-pong, or flag-football.
My school is located in a rural area with many students living below poverty. They are very limited in their involvement in sports and the only source of exercise and sports' skill development is through Physical Education. It is a priority of mine to expose my students to a variety of sports activity believing they will incorporate exercise and activity into their daily lives.
My Project
My Physical Education classes begin every day with exercises and running. This helps to get the heart beating and improve in balance and flexibility. Next, I introduce and model a skill that students will practice in group drills. An example would be the badminton serve, a skill students are very poor at executing. Students would be in groups of two and practice serving back and forth to each other. At first, when learning how to serve, my classes do not use a badminton net. They are to concentrate on striking the birdie in the center of the racket hitting it high and deep. When students begin to show success at this skill, badminton nets are utilized and we begin to play badminton games.
Another skill, students are very limited in performing is dribbling a soccer ball. I model dribbling a soccer ball through cones for the students to practice. Then we will have competitions between groups of students dribbling the ball through the cones.
All skills practiced contribute to the game.
Through Physical Education, my students gain knowledge and the skills to play sports they would not have learned in their home environment.
The skills learned will hopefully become a part of their adult life and contribute to healthy living.
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