Sunday, January 29, 2012
High School Athletes
I created this blog to get other people's thoughts on how to work with athletes who do not want to work, or care about working hard at the high school level. At the school I teach at, we have a lot of athletes, but a lot of them don't want to work to get better. They want everything to be given to them. I just want to get some advice from anyone who might be experiencing the same thing, or have experienced this before.
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We have a lot of talented athletes at my school as well (middle school level). However, I notice that in PE class, some of them totally waste their talent and their time by not trying and constantly goofing off. Sometimes, we pull them aside and remind them that they should be the one's modeling respect, teamwork, attitude, and effort. I have two theories for this. First, I feel like they feel "above" the activities we do and since they play a sport, they "don't need PE." Secondly, I think if they are expected to know how to do the skill (i.e. a volleyball player passing a ball during the volleyball unit), they purposely goof off so that they don't have the opportunity to "mess up" the skill. Because they are a volleyball player, they feel like they are "expected" to perform at a high level, so they mess up on purpose to prevent embarrassment (This is a stretch of a theory, but it might be possible).
ReplyDeleteI also have coached players at the high school level who feel like they are perfect and don't need to practice.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on your blog!
Those are very good thoughts! I agree with them. I run into the same issues in my PE class.
DeleteDuring the summer conditioning, we had no leadership from the seniors on the football team. During the season, the football players did not want to work hard. They made excuses for losing instead of taking initiative to make themselves better. This is my first year coaching at the school I am at and this is the worst group of athletes that I've dealt with in the 10 years I've coached when it comes to this situation, or issue. All of the coaches colaborate about these issues. I think it starts with the senior class having a lack of leadership.
Looks like this is going to be an interesting blog to follow! thanks for the invite.
ReplyDeleteThanks, and sorry again for the late blog!!!
DeleteAnother topic we could touch on in this blog is something of what Karly mentioned in her previous message. How would you handle a situation in your PE class of a student or students who don't want to put out the effort, or try hard in your class? This is an interesting topic because people have their different ways of handling situations. I would be interested in hearing from you guys on how you would handle situations in your classes. Please don't refrain from the first part of the blog. I am still interested in your thoughts about that issue to.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a tough question, Chris. I'm sure it will vary from teacher to teacher and even from class to class, but there are ways we can probably try to motivate these students. I am currently enrolled in Sports Psychology as well and we are talking about a lot of different ways people can be motivated to participate in physical activity. Once you can "figure out a person," then you can have more success with motivating them. The only downside is that there are a lot of factors to consider when trying to figure out what motivates someone and then you have to tailor the lessons to keep them motivated. In a class of 30 students, sometimes it may be hard to accomodate all their needs in terms of motivation. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that it would be a challenge and would definitely take some time to figure out.
ReplyDeleteI feel the best way to motivate students would be to have them set goals that are they can obtain easily. This may help them work harder in class and in the sport. It sounds terrible to say but incentives may be the best way to motivate them.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to part of your post where you said that the students dont want to work to get better. I coach at the varsity level and often times the girls are content to just stay at the same skill level. They dont want to do new drills to help them improve they dont really care if they win or lose. Its not that they expect everything to be given to them, but I have seen what you are describing. I think todays youth expects everything to be handed to them not just opportunities in sports. Its frustrating especially as a coach!
ReplyDeleteI will be honest, I think that with all of the video games and different things that kids are into now, they have gotten really lazy. This isn't all kids, but a lot of kids. A lot of kids are spoiled any more to. They are able to get away with things at home that make them think they can act the way they do at school. A lot of kids are babied by their parents. Their parents make them think that they are the best thing that has ever happened, so they get this mind frame. They don't think they have to work, don't care to work, and expect things to be given to them. Like I said, this is not all of the kids, but I am noticing more and more kids fitting into this category.
ReplyDelete