Emergency NFL Training Camp!!

On Wednesday November 4, 2009, myself and my group were to teach a lesson in our PED 380: Skill Acquisition of Team Sports class. The concept was to teach a 15 minute lesson on a team sport that would normally be taught in a Physical Education class within a group of 5 people. Our group was to teach flag football. After the other presentations, we were the final group to present...

When we were told of the presentation, there was less than a week to prepare a lesson. Our group, composed of myself, Patrick Wingler, Rachel Phillips, Chris Infante, and Adam Campbell were to flag football. Since we were all for the most part in Stephen Yang's EDU 255 class, we dubbed ourselves 'Yang-a-lang and One Ding-Dong.' We each consulted with one another on what activity to present and taking this information, I developed a lesson plan that clearly detailed what we were doing. After a quick briefing with everyone to make sure we were all on the same page, it was time to teach.

We began the lesson with an instant activity; ultimate football. The rules are the same as ultimate frisbee which made instruction and explination very simple and quick. As we had always played frisbee in EDU 255, we felt this was the best instant activity to crossover! And it proved to be a big hit. Everyone worked together and had fun. We then brought everyone in to introduce the lesson. As the rest of the group introduced themselves, I walked around pretending to be on my cell phone. When it came my time to speak, I closed the phone and told everyone how I was speaking to Roger Goodell of the NFL and how he wanted us to run an emergency training camp! This got a lot of laughs and the theme carried through the lesson. We began with passing and catching a football with a partner which would then be altered into the game-like drill of running routes once we saw mastery. After this, we conducted a modified flag football game playing 5v5. Afterward we brought them in and debriefed them closing with a challenge to defeat us, the teachers, next class.

Having only 15 minutes to teach, you realize how little time you have to get in everything you want. And being in a group of 5 people makes it even more difficult. However we were able to manage this by dividing time equally amongst us. The biggest hit was my intro/hook. Everyone genuinely thought I was on the phone and I could tell they were shocked and even a little angry about it. It was a clever way to catch attention and it did such. Having observed everyone else teach in class, we were determined to be the best. There was very little enthusiasum from the other groups and the activities were chaotic. We knew we could do better and set out to do so. Our work paid off as we were congratulated for our efforts. Coach Hoerup even commented on how she never expected that out of me! As long as you strive to do well, it will happen.

As a teacher, we have to adapt to time limits as well as number of people we are teaching with as well as number of students being taught. This was a unique experience and very fun at the same time. I cannot wait to tackle another challenge like this in the future!