organization

Organizational Strategies

In order to prevent possible chaos during the lesson, we organized the gym floor into grids that could be used as modified game territories for the students (See Diagram 1). Cones were used to separate the territories while the balls were placed on a rack- just enough balls for the tactics and skills we were to perform with the 13 students. The balls were placed on the rack to ensure safety to the students, preventing them from rolling freely around the gym.

When students were asked to practice the skills they were instructed to spread out, using the full dimensions of the gym surface. This was done so that they would not bump into each other. As well, this limited the amount of balls "invading" other practice spaces.

We removed the cones upon the completion of the skill practices in which they were used. This prevented students from inadvertently tripping over them and causing injury. We collapsed the basketball hoops so that they would not hang over the playing area, potentially interfering with the guided flight path of the spherical objects (i.e. volleyballs).

All students were to remove any jewelry prior to the lesson. For example, watches and bracelets interfered with the forearm pass and had the potential to cause injury to the wearer.

Students not wearing appropriate footwear (i.e.: non marking running shoes) were instructed to play in their socks. Although this may be considered a possible hazard (no grip on socks), this was a policy implemented by the course teacher to minimize the possibilities of students not participating.

For equipment use, a variety of balls should be available for the students. For example, softer, bouncier, and regular balls can all be displayed and the students can have their choice depending on what they want to accomplish. A student that plays on the school volleyball team might want to use a regular ball, while on the other hand a student might just be learning how to use the forearm pass and they might want to use a softer ball.

When teaching, we might find that a task will work better if we incorporate a different piece of equipment. For example, there is a task in this unit plan where the students work on their accuracy by putting the ball into a hulla-hoop that is lying on the ground. Bouncier balls might be useful in this drill because the ball needs to come out of the hoop high enough for the next person to get under it and perform the forearm pass.

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