Teachable Moments...

I love teachable moments. I find them all over the place and all day long. Today, I had to take a few moments to talk to my homeroom about respect and how to learn. Yesterday after school I heard from the new Gym teacher that the boys in my class were HORRID that afternoon. They had come to my class after being with him so I kind of wasn't surprised (having already heard the grumbling from them).

Just to give you some background. Until this year, the students have always had Inuit Gym teachers and those teachers have rarely had a lot of training or backbone. For years, the girls have gotten in the habit of leaving or doing score instead of participating and the boys would complain until they could play floor hockey or have free time. There was very little actual instruction happening. The secondary students are finding it hard having someone in the Gym who is actually trying to teach skills and develop them in all sports instead of just floor hockey.

So, a few of the guys in my class became very lippy with this new teacher and really pushed too far, until they were sent to see the principal. Today I decided I would bring it up with them and have a discussion. So, we talked about what they felt... "It's just kids games", "He doesn't let us play without sneakers", "We want to play floor hockey", etc....

Fortunately I had done my homework and knew what they were learning about- that they were just starting a unit on Track and Field events... So, I asked them, how many of them knew anything about Track and Field. None of them knew what I was talking about, so I said, "Then why not listen and try it out... The teacher is trying to teach you something you have never tried before and that you might actually like, or be good at!" I reminded them that unless they listen and try new things they will never learn how to do anything that they don't already know about, and that they might also miss out on chances to become good at something that they could travel to Arctic Summer Games for. We talked about sneakers and they all said that now they have sneakers to wear, so that wasn't a problem anymore. Then they said that they want to play hockey so they can be better at hockey. I pointed out that even hockey players do crosstraining of different sports and that things like running and track and field will make their heart and muscles a lot stronger so they will get in much better shape for playing hockey.

By the end of the discussion I could see a change in the attitude they were having. I encouraged them to go into class with a positive attitude and willingness to listen at the start so they could play more sports and not spend so much time arguing and wasting time. I didn't hear anything from the gym teacher, but they had class at the end of the day... I hope that things went better and that they will think about their attitudes and actions a bit more...

We might fix them there youngins up yet!! LOL!