Real-Life Decision Making
As a PE teacher, you're helping clean up the gym and put away mats before
the next class arrives. You sigh under your breath. Today was a hard day.
You just started a new unit called combative games. And while you know that
once the students get into it, they will find it enjoyable, it takes a bit
for them to warm up to trying new activities such as wrestling.
Somehow, you've got to find a way to make this unit fun for the kids, so
that they will want to learn more. But how? They all stood around the mats
not wanting to try any of the moves being demonstrated.
You hear some laughing and look up from one of the large mats you're rolling
up. You see a group of students trying some of the wrestling moves on their
own. You sit back on your heels and smile. It's just the kind of thing you
like see: an enthusiasm for what they have learned.
"The aim is to disguise physical activity so that it's something fun for
the kids," says PE teacher Jonathan Brady.
Clearly, they are finally having some fun in the class. But in addition
to trying some of the moves, they are doing front flips off the rolled mats.
Could this be dangerous?
You are torn. You try so hard to make physical activity fun for the kids.
Your whole aim is to get them to be physically active on their own and enjoy
it. But is what they're doing now safe? Do you have to go over and rain on
their parade?
What do you do?