Games, Contests, and Relays Final Thoughts:

This semester in the games, contests, and relays course I had an amazing experience! Not only did I have tons of fun but I also learned a bunch of new things that will be very beneficial for my future career path as an elementary school teacher. Over the semester I learned how to incorporate not only the understanding and skill level of games but also how to teach children respect, teamwork, and how to help others and the community within the games as well.

Throughout the course although presenting games in front of the class was a little intimidating at first, by the time the second presentation came around I felt way more comfortable. I think it was easier the second time because I got to know the rest of my classmates a little better. Making up lesson plans for each presentation was very beneficial for me. Planning lessons is something that being a teacher consists of; having the knowledge will help me succeed in the future.

The Social and Personal Responsibility Teaching Model was the first model we looked at. This teaching model is based on helping others, effort and participation, respect, self-direction, and taking things out into the community and everyday life. This model allows children from all different social backgrounds to do well and learn in a physical activity setting. The several different levels of this model permit children/students to excel and succeed in their everyday lives.

The Teaching Games for Understanding – Teaching a Tactical Perspective was the second model that we analyzed. This model is based on fundamental progression of skills to excel in different games and activities. The main focus of this model is looking at a variety of tactical problems for different types of games. These types of games are broken into four categories: Net/Wall games, Invasion/Territory games, Target games, and Fielding/Striking games. Each category can have a different of tactical problem, to solve these problems games can be made that move from simple to complex that specifically focus on the tactical problem.

The Social and Personal Responsibility Teaching model and The Teaching Games for Understanding model can definitely be integrated together. It would be very easy to integrate both models into one game. A simple example would be just encourage students to cheer for their other teammates while they are working with simple to complex tactical problem games.

I really did enjoy working with both of these models, and I can’t wait to apply these models to any teaching, coaching, or mentoring opportunity.