Flat Rock's Physical Education Teachers use the Sport Education Model to teach team sports. This model has the students participate in a variety of roll playing activities. By having each student focus on a specific activity and also playing the game they begin to understand all the different components of each sport.
When we begin our sport ed unit I will get the folders together with all the pages that the students will need for that unit. I will then pick out the coaches for that specific sport. I make my choices by picking students who already have a background in that sport sometimes through school sports, recreaction league or playing with neighborhood friends. ( Each student will have an opportunity to be a coach sometime throughout the year). I assign the teams, trying to keep them as close to the same skill level as possible. The students are told that I might have to move some students around due to absences or behavior. At this time the new teams come up with team names. They are then assigned a report which will include the official teams stats, records, roster, hall of famers, information about the coaches, etc... . It will also include information about the city, such as location and sights to see. In my soccer unit for example, I went to our Social Studies Teachers and made sure that my list of countries were the same countries that they were studying at that time. I had my soccer teams choose names from the social studies list of countries who also played in the World Cup. During our unit I scheduled computer lab time for the students to do research on their teams and countries. This included the older students to use their technology skills that they had previously learned in their computer classes. The younger students worked with me and the computer teacher in finding the information they needed. At the end of the Sport Ed. Soccer Unit each team was asked to turn in their report. By including the social studies teachers and the computer teachers in my Sport Ed unit I was able to help the students with a deeper knowledge of their country and also computer lab time with knowledgeable teachers available to help answer questions.
The students are then assigned an extra activity. This activity is performed every day along with playing the sport. This extra activity will last anywhere from three to five days (according to the length of the unit). The student will perform their extra activity and also play the game each day. After a specific time the student will be assigned a new activity. It might be score keeper, official, media representative, fitness manager, or equipment manager. The coach is the only student that has their extra activity for the entire unit. Everyone plays every game.
The Score Keeper is responsible for keeping score during games and also recording any extra points that their team may acquire for that day. They are to record the total in the teams folders. One week before the end of the unit the score will be added and this total will help me decide where I will seed these teams in the Championship Games.
The Official must learn all the calls and hand signals that are used in their sport. These students will be officiating other games when their team isn't playing and the Championship Games using the hand signals and whistles.
The Media Representative must record what activities were completed for the week and if their teams did well or needed improvement. They are to write up a one page sports article like thay would read in the paper. These are posted on a bulletin board in the Gym each week.
The Fitness Manager is responsible for warming up their team each day through numerous agilities. They are the first team members out of the locker room and they encourage and motivate their team mates in their warm-ups. They are given examples in their folder but are expected to expand on these. They know that it's imperative to get their teams heart rate up as well as stretching them out so there are no injuries.
The Equipment Manager is responsible for all equipment used for each day. They must make sure that all balls are pumped up, they have the approporiate number of cones, jerseys, etc... . They put the equipment out and also put it away after each day.
The Coach is the only player on the team without an activity that changes. They stay the coach for the entire unit. They are responsible for meeting with me when I call for a coaches meeting. At this time I explain what we are working on for the day. I show them exactly how it is to be taught. They return to their teams and go over the days lessons. Because I have chosen students with prior knowledge of the game these coaches have an easy time teaching the lesson to their teams. If for any reason they forget or have trouble explaining the lesson of the day, they may ask me or they may look in their folders for handouts that go over exactly what I have shown them.
When the students have to actually perform these activities for their teams they learn to be more vocal, responsible, knowledgeable of the game, observant, encouraging, motivating, efficient, and a leader. The students have to step up in areas that they may not feel very confident in, yet after the third or fourth day, those same students are doing their activities with confidence.