Habits – 21 Days to break, make and reinforce.

Habits are hard to break and often just as hard to make…we all know that. However, have you heard of the rough formula attached to successful making and breaking of habits? I find it both interesting and motivating whenever I want to start or stop doing something. This is how it goes:

• 21 days to break (an old) habit.
• 21 days to make a (new) habit.
• 21 days to reinforce (the new) habit.

So roughly 60 days or 2 months to go from ‘I’m going to do it’ to ‘If I don’t do it (my new habit) I’m going to miss it’.

60 days to make the change stick.

If we apply this to exercise and the oft talked up, ‘I’m going to get fit after Christmas’ pledge, it means that unless you are still fulfilling your New Years resolution by the end of February, you’re new regime won’t be anywhere near hardwired into your sub-conscious. It’s not that long, but how many of you have lasted till now with an exercise based (or any) New Years resolution?

If we apply this to the school year and getting kids into good exercise habits, this means roughly that it’s the end of Term 1 before they’re ‘in the groove’ (of course we know this applies to getting them into a class routine as well).

So how to build these good habits? Referring to last weeks post (‘Show Some Ticker’ – Read here), do a little more often so that the idea of exercise is not so daunting. 15-20 minutes with your heart-rate high enough to make the kids short of breath is spot on. In addition, make it fun (again, see last week’s post). It’s like hiding fruit in a smoothie – if it’s fun (or taste’s good) they won’t realise they’re working.

Have a great day!

The Year Ahead – Show Some Ticker

Welcome to 2012! Here’s hoping you had an excellent break. We have all returned to nothing close to Swimming Carnival quality weather that’s for sure!

Let’s take this opportunity at the start of the year to talk a little medium to long-term re the fitness and health of your students (and you).

I once heard tennis great Martina Navratilova say, that a bit of exercise several times a week is way better than one, intense hit out a week. With this simple, yet very effective piece of advice in mind, how about setting a goal to raise you student’s heart rate for a 15 minute period, 3 times a week (in addition to their PE Lessons)?

We're not talking marathons - just 15 minutes a few times a week.

There are a million different ways that you can achieve this and despite the jam-packed schedule of the average student and teacher, surely 15 minutes can be found.

For me, it’s all about heart rate. You’re not trying to build muscle on kids except the big one inside their chest, so getting the beats up and keeping them there for a sustained (this means games with no down time) 10-15 minutes is the best quality of exercise. Try these:

• Individual Skipping (not the big rope where a lot of waiting occurs).
• An extended game of Swim Fishy Swim, Stuck In The Mud or Octopus Tag (with limited time waiting at each end).
• Pac-man with a couple of  ‘angels’ (to release those who have been tagged).
• Everybody’s In.
• Relays with short laps (20 metres) and small teams (again, to reduce waiting and a slowing down of heart rates).

If the majority of the class is at least a little short of breath from about 5 minutes in until the end of 15 minutes, then you’ve set a great task. Remember, repetition of this style of exercise will have remarkable effects on their metabolism, fitness and overall health.

If you would like an explanation of any of the games above, please get in touch. If you have others you know of, how about leaving a comment?

Enjoy!

For the Teachers and Coaches – Deceptive Exercise

Developing, Maintaining or Returning to fitness is a lifetime challenge and there is no easy path or quick fix. There are of course a million different theories, approaches and opinions when it comes to sustaining an overall level of ‘good’ condition.

What we want to talk about today is ‘Deceptive Exercise’. These are the sports and activities that when done in a certain way might trick you into thinking your making a heavy contribution to your fitness but actually are not. Here are just three of them (hopefully it doesn’t shock you too much).

Depending upon the shots in a rally, you may not do a sustained amount of running in doubles. Of course it’s great fun to play though 🙂

* Tennis – So often it is played as doubles which means there is limited movement / running and therefore minimal opportunity to accelerated one’s heart rate. In addition, rallies are often short so break time exceeds playing time.

Why Not Try – Playing more singles and if you are an intermediate player get your hands on some ‘low compression’ tennis balls. These softer balls move slower through the air, bounce at a lower height and help drastically increase rally time (therefore reducing ball pick up and break time).

* Surfing – The image of surfing is of a healthy lifestyle, tanned bodies, broad shoulders and flat stomachs. However, the only real part of surfing that is giving a beginner or intermediate surfer a proper workout is the paddling. So if you are walking through the water, paddling for 20 metres and then sitting on your board for a further 15 minutes waiting for a wave, it might feel great but it’s doing wonders for your blood pressure not your heart rate (and therefore fitness).

Why Not Try – On flat days go for a paddle from one end of the beach to another. If you are a competent enough surfer, ride the waves you catch as far in as possible to actually lengthen the paddle back out beyond the breakers. Implement some sprint paddling to get the heart rate up at least 5 times during a session perhaps.

* Touch Footy – When I play touch footy I feel that I get anything from a killer workout to light run depending on any number of factors. These may include: Number of substitutes in your team (more or less break time), quality of opposition and where you spend most time on the field (standing out on the wing or running ’round like a maniac in the thick of the action).

Do you just stand on the wing?

Why Not Try – To be realistic about how much you got out of your game. If you had no subs, a tough opposition and spent most of the time scrambling up the middle, then go enjoy your post match beverage. However, if you had 5 subs, your team had the ball the entire game and you stayed on the wing waiting to unleash your Campo-esque ‘goose-step’, then in recognition that it wasn’t the world’s greatest workout, perhaps run a few slow laps of the park at the end of the game to top up your exercise for the evening.

We could of course go on…However, the bottom line is that so often in sport and exercise you can often make the activity as hard or as easy as you like, and easily convince yourself it was a huge workout. Be realistic over the break and don’t just assume that because you played a game it equalled a great session of exercise. Be a bit more sensitive to the differences between a tough game and an easy game, compensate accordingly with less or more exercise and you should start to see personal fitness results improve or if not at least be maintained over the silly season 🙂

Today will be our last blog for 2011. From all of us at Teachers In Sport we would like to wish you the best for the upcoming school holiday period and of course Christmas. It has been a pleasure bringing you our weekly blog and hearing your comments.

We look forward to introducing you to many a fantastic TPL course in 2012 to help you improve your PE Teaching and Sports Coaching.

Merry Christmas,

Teachers In Sport

Rules of Engagement – Guest contributor Andrew Sun

This week we are lucky enough to have Director and Head Coach of Max Tennis, Andrew Sun, contributing on the all important topic of enaging students! Thanks once again Andrew!

Rules of Engagement

We can all remember our favourite teacher or coach as we were growing up and playing sport or going through our schooling journey. What was so memorable about how they taught you and the class? It was more than likely, that they made a good connection with you, they were engaging, and most importantly, their sessions were fun.

As teachers or coaches we are constantly trying to connect with or engage our students, no matter what the subject matter. However, the difference in the learning is often based upon how we “wrap up” or deliver the message.

Building Rapport with the students is critical in getting their trust which will make it easier for you to deliver your message. Take an interest in their lives, ask them what the highlight of their weekend was. If you know they play a particular sport, ask them how they went in their last match or congratulate them on an award they received at School Assembly.

When delivering your message, make it fun! If the kids are young, make a “funny sound” during your demonstration, for example “splaaat”, tell a bad “dad” joke, create relevant teaching points/cue words or simply make a funny facial expression during the activity. Ideally try and make it relevant based on your knowledge of the student’s personality, passed experiences and skill level. Keep in mind that listening to their responses and following their lead in regards to the jokes you tell & and demonstrations you give can really help to further engage the students.

Whilst it is important to make the session enjoyable, there still needs to be some structure and routine. Not only can this alleviate any safety concerns, it will give the students a sense of order and control, meanwhile assisting in developing a sense of security and self-discipline. It also shows your leadership skills and demonstrates your ability to maintain control of the class.

Another way to maintain order is to give your players a defined place to stand, such as the lines of the court or the field, for example “place your toes on this line”, while giving your explanations and demonstrations. Give them specific ways to hold their equipment (eg “give their racquet a hug” or “hide the soccer ball behind your feet on the ground”). This will also help minimize distractions.

There are many different ways you can demonstrate the skill you wish to teach:

• Teacher can use a student to demonstrate the skill whilst explaining the key components
• The teacher can demonstrate the skill with the aid of a student as a feeder.
• Have 2 students demonstrate the skill whilst the teacher explains the skills.

There are of course many approaches to engaging students too:

When explaining the skill, incorporate a Cue Word that highlights the main teaching point that you are teaching. You can create these cue words or the students could even create/change them during the demonstration/explanation – a great way to give them a sense of responsibility or ownership of the skill – assisting to further engage.

Throughout the session, utilize The Art of Questioning.  By using strategically timed questions, the student will be “forced to engage” with the session or activity. By questioning the students, it will encourage some thought processes and reinforcement of the relevant skills.

Additionally, include Little Goals during each activity. For example “how many can you do in 30 secs?”, “who can do 10 (kicks) first?”, “which pair can work together and do 3 lots of 10 first?”. All of these activities can be repeated with recognition (high fives) given for improving on their first attempt. With players given the opportunity to repeat the activity and improve on their previous score – they all win!!

Enjoy adding your own flavour to your sessions and experiment with what creates a great environment for your students.

Engage your students and have fun!!

Max Tennis is … Developing great people

Phone: +61 2 9029 8283 | Mob: 0417 412 231

Mail: asun@maxtennis.com.au | Web: www.maxtennis.com.au

www.facebook.com/MaxTennisAustralia

No Net Newcombeball – A Great Game to Reinforce Control!

Recently we talked about timing before power. As a progression onwards from that discussion we bring you a game that rewards control rather than power.

Derived from a Badminton modification (“Speed-minton”) we once saw, ‘No Net Newcombe-ball’ is a game that can be set up really quickly, modified to suit different standards and replicated to ensure that lots of ‘small sided’ games can be played at one time.

1) Use your own judgement to do the following:

• Form teams of 1 to 4 players.
• Mark a square out for each team with cones 1 to 5 metres in diametre.
• Space the square 1 to 10 metres apart.
• ‘How many, how big and how far’ the above is lets you control the difficulty of each game very easily.

2) Students now use Newcombe-ball rules (Volleyball with catching allowed) to play.

3) If ball is dropped, point is lost.

4) If ball lands outside the square without it being touched, point is lost.

5) First to ‘x’ wins.

Yet again, this game can be used across a multitude of sports and the fact that no net is required drastically reduces set-up time. Here’s a few sports NNN can be modified for:

• Volleyball
• Tennis (Either to teach control whilst Volleying or if for a rally, make the rule that players can’t step outside the square.
• Rugby (any type including Touch).
• AFL (Handpasses or Kicks).
• Netball (Passes of all kinds).
• Soccer (Increase the distance in-between squares to up the difficulty).
• Cricket or any throw and catch based game or skill.

There are no doubt others – free your teaching mind and get creative. Let us know how you go!

Enjoy!

Smartphones, Tablets and PE Part 2 – Video Analysis

Video analysis has been around for a long time. Millions of Tennis serves and Golf swings across the world deconstructed by a camera wielding coach watching on with a client who can’t believe that they actually look like they do.

Problem is, even with the portability of the compact video camera it is still seems to often be prohibitive to regular use of a video given the need to:

1. Locate camera.
2. Charge batteries.
3. Record subject.
4. Retire indoors.
5. Track down mysterious cord to connect camera to TV.
6. Locate elusive AV channel that facilitates playing of said video.
7. Play video.
8. Give feedback.
9. Return to playing field and see if a difference has been made or an improvement achieved.

How long did this take to setup?

Excuse the facetiousness but the above is not too far from the truth. In part two of our blog on smartphones and PE we talk about the instant gratification, convenience and ability to record, feedback, practice, record, feedback, practice that facilitates fantastic coaching and teaching results.

There is a multitude of apps that compliment the video function on iDevices. ‘Tennis Coach Plus is our favourite. If you have a regular camera phone then that alone can still be used to great effect to simply record, feedback, practice / apply, record. feedback, practice / apply and so on.

You can go nuts with video analysis. The number of apps out there is crazy and their functions are seemingly endless.

A quick shout out also to The PE Geek, Mr Robbo, who writes a great PE Blog, and designs apps for PE. Check his stuff out, it’s great.

Continuing on. To get the most out of video analysis it important to do a couple of things right.

1. Choose a specific action or skill. (A serve, swing or place kick for example).
2. Position yourself correctly (about 45 degrees in front and away from where the ball is being aimed is best).
3. Frame your subject correctly (Not too far as to make it hard to see technique on a 3.5 inch screen, but not so close that a ball toss or ball flight after hitting cannot be seen).
4. Use the convenience, to your advantage: As previously alluded to – don’t record the info, chat about it and then stash it (how often does the ‘we’ll have a look this time next term’ promise actually get fulfilled. Record, view, feedback, practice, repeat.
5. Integrate video into a lot of classes: Setup is as easy as pulling out your phone, use this advantage to video and review frequently! The kids love it – it’s a good laugh and very constructive!

Exercisers for Life – Encouraging a ‘Physical’ Education

I often wonder whether PE should even be called a subject. Practicalities aside, if there were three major things that a student could leave 13 years of schooling with it would be (in our opinion):

• The commonly referred to want to be a ‘lifelong learner’.
• An individual with empathy, community mindedness and an ability to interact well with society.
• A person with a desire to be healthy in mind and body.

All teachers are now trained and are given PL in topics that encourage the first two points regardless of subject. However, the third point and the one most pertinent to us at Teachers In Sport is often left  exclusively to the PE Teachers.

We have thankfully progressed from the day where a glossed over spelling error in a Geography class, or a mispronounced word in a Science lesson would yield the reaction ‘I’m not an English Teacher, I’m a Geography / Science Teacher!’. As we all know, we need to be teachers over and above ‘subject specific teachers’.  Producing well rounded, literate and numerically competent students is a responsibility we must ALL take on board.

Whole school exercise? Can it work?

So should this approach be taken to PE and healthy lifestyles? Perhaps slightly controversial and initially awkward to execute but yes, we think they should. Here’s some suggestions on how to deliver a more ‘physical’ education.

• Does your school have morning lines or an informal assembly? Make one or two year groups stay back each day for 10 minutes of light stretching or aerobic activity (see photo – this is basically what an enthusiastic, sporty teacher would have us doing in my primary school back in the 80’s).
• On a rotating basis (so that the missed time is shared amongst all lessons) allocate one period a day to contain 15 minutes of exercise.
• Have students take turns coming to class with a Stretch, Balance and Strength exercise (3 separate components) for the rest of the class. It can be done before recess, lunch or to break up an extended time in the classroom. The student who supplies the routine can also be asked to explain what each exercise is helping and improving.
• Find out what sport is being played in the student’s PE lessons and allocate time to practice and play it. This will help the kids reinforce skills learnt in their PE class. It also treats the PE lessons as a time for instruction and education with some time for practice rather than just ‘supervised play’ as can often occur during PE time.

Now we all know there’s never enough time in the day. It’s a fair and very valid point. However, shouldn’t exercise be non-negotiable? Further, when it comes to creating habits for life, if a student is used to the fact that exercise just happens several times a week and that’s the way it is, then there’s a way greater chance that they will take this excellent approach into adulthood.

Are we being too idealistic? Unrealistic? We’d love to know what you think. Why not leave a comment or join the conversation on Twitter where we’ve found so much great discussion to be occurring.

Enjoy the rest of week 1!!

Smartphones, Tablets and PE (Part 1) – Data Collection

PE is a mobile subject. So do mobile devices a welcome addition to the PE environment? Or are they just another gimmick?

Clipboards, reams of paper and their subsequent organisation / filing are the bane of many PE Teacher’s existence (certainly mine anyway). My most recent PE teaching assignment involved 29 classes a week. The teacher I was relieving for 6 weeks asked that I record all kids running times over 100m, in preparation for the Athletics carnival.

My first reaction was to grab the clipboard and request a roll printout for every class. I then paused and wondered how an iDevice, that constantly promises to make life easier (and to be fair, often delivers), could be utilised in this setting.

Using the free Evernote application (a list maker and keeper) and a stopwatch (an actual one not the iDevice version) I proceeded to record names and times of all kids running in a format that could easily be stored, edited, sorted (after pasting into Excel) and emailed. Here’s what ‘2A’s times looked like:

Not only was this a compact, flexible and editable way of recording times as a one off, it also meant no paper (and no need for transfer from paper to computer). Furthermore, it was a record that could be easily organised by name in order to compare results from week to week, term to term or year to year and therefore a clearer give a view of achievement or progress being made.

It got me thinking about the inclusion of these tools in a variety of PE lessons. Kids love quantitative measurement, so how about applying it to other parts of your lessons?

Make lists for:

1. (the dreaded) Beep Test
2. Soccer juggles
3. Baskets shot in a minute
4. ‘Self Rallies’ (Tennis)
5. Skipping skills
6. Any skill that can be repeated and counted that you can think of.

Record them, sort them, print them out and create an ongoing ‘ladder’ that kids can try and better their position on. See how it goes and let us know what you think!!!

A Golden Rule to Remember – No ‘Put Downs’

I have to attribute the content and inspiration of this blog to a wonderful lady I worked for in London back in 2003/4. Her name is Dr Shirley Kavanagh and she runs a company called FACE (Feeling, Achieving, Caring, Encouraging). When I was part of the company, it was known as PEAT (The Prevention of Exclusions Activities Team). Here’s their website for more information http://faceyouth.co.uk/

There are so many ‘golden rules’ of teaching that I learnt in my time with PEAT and today I wanted to divulge the best of the lot. ‘No Put Downs’. In all my teaching, but especially in the oft over competitive PE environment, it has formed the backbone to my disciplinary approach.

After Mondays tanty against Sam Stosur one wonders whether Serena was ever guided in the art of 'No Put Downs'

‘No Put Downs‘ is exactly as it sounds. No one in any class I teach is to be heard putting another student / player down at any time. Here are some of the supporting reasons I give when I am explaining why the ‘No Put Downs’ rule must be adhered to.

1. Chances are you are not the best in the world, nor are you the worst at the game you are playing.
2. How would it make you feel, if when you dropped the ball a teammate was yelling at you that ‘you were hopeless!’?
3. Would you be more likely to catch the next ball if you were worried about your teammate having a go at you again?
4. If you dropped the ball and your teammate instead said ‘bad luck mate’ or the like and gave a pat on the back, would that bolster your confidence to do better next time?

I sit this rule at the top of the tree and I encourage kids to tell me if they have been put down or if others have. Especially with the primary kids, you will see the rule begin to manage itself as kids don’t want to be put down so they wont put down others. This makes for a much nicer environment to teach and play in.

How you punish children who break this rule is up to and what type of teacher personality you have. After a clear explanation I don’t think that warnings are required. Sitting kids off for a few minutes in light of breaking the rule followed by asking them if they know why they’re sitting down works for me. That’s just my take…

Have a great day!

The Littlies Love ‘Cone Flip’

Here’s a great game to get things started or finished in your lesson. It engages the kid’s bodies and brains as they try to devise a way to win. Like so many of these activities, there’s probably a million names. We call it ‘Cone Flip’.

In the absence of any relevant photo we thought we'd throw in a cheesy cartoon of some happy kids. Hoping yours are as smiley as this lot after a couple of games of Cone Flip 🙂

1. Acquire a set of cones or markers in two different colours.
2. Form two teams (one for each colour).
3. Spread cones out evenly (one for each player) across an area of your choice – The wider they are apart, the more active the kids will need to be.
4. On your command, the kids begin trying to flip the opposition’s cones from their upright position.
5. At the same time they have to return any of their flipped cones to their standing position.
6. The winner can be ascertained either when one team has flipped all the opposition’s cones or upon you saying so, stopping the game and counting which team has the most upright cones. They are then declared the winner.

As much as this game is great for the little ones we should revise that and say that it is great for anyone FROM a very young age. The older kids love it as well. It combines strategy and exercise very nicely.

Enjoy!!