Happy 2017! Each year at this time we hear about and or watch the College Football Bowl games and the NFL Playoffs. Many of us watch the games for the love of the sport, to witness amazing plays and for some, they watch the games to view the power of teamwork. As a coach and PE teacher, I watch the games for all the above reasons. However, I am always drawn to watching the interactions of team members on the sidelines. I watch how the athletes interact and respond to each other and how they interact and respond to their coaches. Team culture is HUGE! Team culture is everywhere!
Team culture is the expression of a team's values, attitudes and beliefs. There is a strong sense of mission and purpose. Teams are not just in sport. Teams are prevalent in a school setting through group projects, PE games and leadership development. Another area in which team work can be seen, is in small and large corporations. All of those team settings have a purpose, mission, and a goal. It is up to EACH individual to trust other team members, honor the same values, beliefs and attitude. This isn't easy to do on daily bases.
In lower school, the students get their first experiences of team work and team culture through sport and group projects. Each student has a different view on what a team is based on their experiences and what they have seen from high school, college and professional sports teams. As a teacher and coach I look for those teachable moments and ways to teach teamwork and team culture through sport and games. "A team member that makes the team great is more valuable than a great player" (Coach John Wooden).
My goal for my classroom culture is to teach students to function, learn and work as a team. This means to embrace each others differences as well as each individuals similarities. By doing this we work together to achieve the common goal of learning new skills, showing good sportsmanship, supporting each others learnings, growing as leaders and most of all having fun. There are times when students don't see eye to eye on a call made within a game or get frustrated if a skill is taking longer to learn compared to another student or if one group looks to be stronger or weaker in their skills which to some students, is "unfair". These are the teachable moments I embrace and really want to remind and teach my students we are all in this together. We also discuss how we as a team (class) can share our voice yet understand it must represent the betterment of the team.
I want my students and student-athletes to feel safe to speak up and know that it is normal to feel a bit vulnerable. This is part of learning, growing, supporting and working together. All these skills come together to create a strong team culture which my students and my student-athletes will use not only in school and sport but in their future work places.
I encourage you to observe the sidelines of any game you are watching, be it young children, high school, college or professional. Watch the interactions of the players and the players with the coaches. One can truly learn a lot just through the skill of observation. If you are in the work force, pay attention to what makes your workplace strive towards the companies common goals. Teamwork is everywhere and if the team culture is one in which everyone is engaged, feeling supported and successful, the entire team will be successful! Here is a great video so show the power of teamwork and the fun it truly can be for everyone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRZnTfRingg
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Friday, November 4, 2016
GRIT!
Grit! What is grit? Grit as defined by Webster is "mental toughness and courage." Girt is the passion and perseverance for long term goals. Grit is stamina and not backing down. Grit is in all of us!
As a physical education teacher, swimming coach and yoga teacher I witness grit in action each and everyday! I see grit in PE class when my second grade student throws herself across the gym floor to block a ball from going into a goal. I see it when my fourth grade students are running stride for stride to achieve the fastest time in the mile. I see it when my first grade students are practicing their throwing skills and not giving up because they missed their target. I see it in my swimmers when they are so immersed in their workouts yet they want to cry because their lungs and body are burning, however, their goal of making it to the state meet is all they can think of achieving. I see it with my yoga students when they are learning a new pose or trying to achieve a supported headstand for the hundredth time. All of these examples show the attitude of grit and to NEVER GIVE UP!
Is grit really that easy? NO!!!! Grit is in all of us but, why do some people seem to have more of than others? Is it genetic? Is it intelligence? Is it both? It's neither of them. It's one's mindset! Everyone is presented with many challenges each and everyday. Some are small and some are so big they seem impossible. It's all how we approach the challenge presented to us. Are we opening our minds up to succeed? Most people will say "yes, I want to succeed." But truly the question that should be asked is...are we opening our minds up to fail? Thomas Edison took a 1,000 try's to create the light bulb. Michale Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and he even states "I've failed over and over again in my life and that's why I'm successful." Failure teaches us more than success. We can choose to take our learning's and continue to grow from them or we can let our minds limit us.
This year one of my goals is to teach each of my students and athletes to discover their true GRIT! If a student says "I can't climb a rope" or "I can't swim faster" or "I'm not good, so I can't do it." I stop and let that student know that THEY ARE GOOD ENOUGH AND YES THEY CAN! It's all how we approach the challenge and how we deal with it mentally. Strong mental toughness, belief, continually trying and finding new ways to accomplish the challenge that work specifically for oneself is how grit is learned and built up more and more in each and everyone of us!
Step outside of your comfort zone and take the risk to discover the true grit you have within you!
As a physical education teacher, swimming coach and yoga teacher I witness grit in action each and everyday! I see grit in PE class when my second grade student throws herself across the gym floor to block a ball from going into a goal. I see it when my fourth grade students are running stride for stride to achieve the fastest time in the mile. I see it when my first grade students are practicing their throwing skills and not giving up because they missed their target. I see it in my swimmers when they are so immersed in their workouts yet they want to cry because their lungs and body are burning, however, their goal of making it to the state meet is all they can think of achieving. I see it with my yoga students when they are learning a new pose or trying to achieve a supported headstand for the hundredth time. All of these examples show the attitude of grit and to NEVER GIVE UP!
Is grit really that easy? NO!!!! Grit is in all of us but, why do some people seem to have more of than others? Is it genetic? Is it intelligence? Is it both? It's neither of them. It's one's mindset! Everyone is presented with many challenges each and everyday. Some are small and some are so big they seem impossible. It's all how we approach the challenge presented to us. Are we opening our minds up to succeed? Most people will say "yes, I want to succeed." But truly the question that should be asked is...are we opening our minds up to fail? Thomas Edison took a 1,000 try's to create the light bulb. Michale Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and he even states "I've failed over and over again in my life and that's why I'm successful." Failure teaches us more than success. We can choose to take our learning's and continue to grow from them or we can let our minds limit us.
This year one of my goals is to teach each of my students and athletes to discover their true GRIT! If a student says "I can't climb a rope" or "I can't swim faster" or "I'm not good, so I can't do it." I stop and let that student know that THEY ARE GOOD ENOUGH AND YES THEY CAN! It's all how we approach the challenge and how we deal with it mentally. Strong mental toughness, belief, continually trying and finding new ways to accomplish the challenge that work specifically for oneself is how grit is learned and built up more and more in each and everyone of us!
Step outside of your comfort zone and take the risk to discover the true grit you have within you!
Monday, September 19, 2016
Welcome to the 2016 - 2017 School Year!
Welcome back Lower School students! It's time to get moving in Ms Carlson's PE classes! We will start of the school year with our Body Management unit. In this unit we will be performing skills and participating in activities that help us with spatial awareness, agility, locomotor skills, body movements, cooperative learning and sportsmanship.
The students favorite game to play during body management is tag. We don't just play "tag you're it." We have lots of version of tag which helps the students really focus on listening and following direction. Another important part of PE. The classes favorite version of tag is "Secret Agent Tag." In this tagging game there are 2 taggers and two secret agents. This version of tag not only focuses on spatial awareness, locomotor skills and agility it emphasis the value of honesty. For this game the students need to tuck up in a little ball and hide their eyes as the teacher goes around and chooses the two secret agents and the taggers. The taggers are allowed to tell the class they are taggers but the secret agents are not. The students love trying to figure out how the secret agents are so when they get tagged they know who can help them get free. They also love being the secret agent!
The upcoming unit is ice skating. This unit focuses on the skating basics as well as body management on the ice. Mr. Little will be teaching my classes and I will be teaching Mr Little's classes in the swimming pool. Within these two units the students really learn how their bodies move in different environments.
Pictures and video will be coming once the students are back in the gym!
Go Mustangs!
The students favorite game to play during body management is tag. We don't just play "tag you're it." We have lots of version of tag which helps the students really focus on listening and following direction. Another important part of PE. The classes favorite version of tag is "Secret Agent Tag." In this tagging game there are 2 taggers and two secret agents. This version of tag not only focuses on spatial awareness, locomotor skills and agility it emphasis the value of honesty. For this game the students need to tuck up in a little ball and hide their eyes as the teacher goes around and chooses the two secret agents and the taggers. The taggers are allowed to tell the class they are taggers but the secret agents are not. The students love trying to figure out how the secret agents are so when they get tagged they know who can help them get free. They also love being the secret agent!
The upcoming unit is ice skating. This unit focuses on the skating basics as well as body management on the ice. Mr. Little will be teaching my classes and I will be teaching Mr Little's classes in the swimming pool. Within these two units the students really learn how their bodies move in different environments.
Pictures and video will be coming once the students are back in the gym!
Go Mustangs!
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