Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sports and Education
I wanted to get some feedback on the issue of sports and class timetable conflict. Having had a semester from hell so far (in terms of work and soccer) I wanted to see how everyone viewed the issue of timetable conflict and sports. I have been speaking with my mentor teacher who occasionally has to take students out of school for games. Teachers are very understanding about this and allow students to make up the work as they go along. However, from my own personal experience some work cannot be made up. This can be due to time retrictions or because it required class participation. What then is the alternative without giving that student special treatment?? I don't want to have any bias in how I deal with this situation as my own feelings are completely tainted by this year so far.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
i have tried 2x to respond to your post.now i am just going to say hang in there. as a high level athlete sometimes we have to make sacrifices. in the end we are all on the same page anyway. we are all feeling like we are at the mercy of our profs and sometimes other students. you can do it. who cares about a few part marks. keep focused.
ReplyDeleteit's interesting that you bring this up, as i'd never thought about it till i started dating my boyfriend (who also plays varsity). I always thought music kids had it hard in high school, always begging for time out from classes and stuff, but then I saw what he has to go through! It's really a tough call, because both you and my boyfriend are playing at a Uni level, which is totally different from doing it in high school. it's a diff level of commitment, and you guys are essentially "hired" by the uni to represent them in the CIS (or whichever organization). In high school, though, it's (from what I've seen) easier to get the teachers to let you out of class (and you're not missing anywhere near as much!), but a the same time, i feel like high schools sports (and club teams and such) maybe should be more willing to accomodate the school, rather than the school accomodating them.....just because it's not the same kind of "representing" that's expected..... Ugh, i hope i don't sound like i'm stepping over the line! this is just how it comes across to someone who's NOT a part of it!
ReplyDeleteThis is where it gets tough: in high school, well, in my high school, it was the music kids who had to always ask to miss a class, the sports guys never had to because it was scheduled better. (except for weekend tournaments of course!) But when it comes to Uni, I've seen it more the opposite way. In the school of music we're told (very firmly!) that we are NOT to take any courses that meet in the afternoons, as that is when our rehearsals will be. so in that sense, things ended up working out. I don't think I've ever had to ask a prof to let me out of class for a music commitment, and maybe that's because all our music stuff is for credit.....so it's scheduled in.......
hmmmm....maybe varsity teams should be allowed to play for credit! Then it could be a SCHEDULED COURSE thing, they wouldn't have to worry about as many timing conflicts....and you'd get scholarships on top of grades......just a thought!
I think this takes creativity on the teacher's part. Sure there are things students will miss, but if you can creatively approach the lesson and give room for flexibility in regards to how an assignment is done or when it's done, that is effective. As long as the student can demonstrate he or she is learning the outcomes, it doesn't matter if his/her work ends up being different than others. I must admit this is easier to do if the student is quite capable in school, but I think we as teachers need to keep in mind that we need to make students life-long learners. Thus giving them skills to learn despite a nutty schedule, is a good thing. To a point of course.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erin, as a teacher we just have to be creative and willing to make adjustments to meet different student needs (it won't just be extracurricular stuff - it'll be the whole spectrum of things that cause students to miss classes). High school teachers don't have a choice, you have to make it work and there are always going to be the kids that play on every team and are always missing the last half hour of class because the bus leaving or missing full days for tournaments and stuff like that. I think PE and Music teachers might be better able to understand those situations and hopefully find creative ways to deal with it, especially in our second teaching areas where it might become a bigger issue. Another thing (there's research to back this up!) is that students who do the sports, etc. tend to be stronger academically and so hopefully it won't be too complicated to keep them caught up. That's not always the case, of course, but we just have to do our best and deal with each student and situation independently. And, like Erin said, keep our lessons creative and flexible - it'll make it easier on a whole ton of levels.
ReplyDeleteThis a good example of how technology could come in hand in the classroom. I understand what Sam is talking about as I remember being away in high school for sporting events and sometimes a class would watch a movie and we would have a test on it. Only I missed the movie. Some teachers were great and would let me off, others not so much. But if we manage to set up stuff online then the students that leave early would be able to access the movie online, or the handouts that were given out. They could simply print them off at home. Also it will show them what is for homework because (espeically if it's a big game) most of the time they aren't really paying attention for the 10 minutes that they are in your class before they leave. And everything pretty much goes in one ear and out the other. So I think technology would be a great way to try and give the student available resources from home. Also you can tell the parents so they will know to make sure their child goes and checks out the website on game days. Heck they could even go on and check it out!
ReplyDelete