"I Want to Play"

When I first had this student in 3rd grade, it was obvious that she didn't like PE. For starters, she always had to go to the bathroom and it took 15 minutes for her to get there and back. Then, when she was in class, she always tried to hide from me and the rest of the class by going way off to the side of the activity or by standing just out of my line of sight.

I knew why she did this. It was she because was self conscious of her abilities compared to other students. She was a little embarrassed that she couldn't do what others could and was afraid that others would make fun of her. I always told her to do the best she could and that she would get better with practice, but it was how she was viewed by her classmates that really worried her.

Thankfully, many of her classmates were very supportive. Because she knew she had that support, she slowly began to participate more and, with her participation, her skills began to improve. This year, she is in 5th grade and she's totally changed.

During the soccer tournament, she found that she could play pretty good defense. In fact, an outstanding soccer playing classmate said to me (in the middle of a game, no less): "Mr T, I can't believe how much ______ has improved. I can't get around her. She's like a wall."

This week she's been working really hard at learning Lacrosse skills, skills which can be difficult for even the most accomplished athletes to learn. While practicing, she said to me: "Mr T, I used to hate PE. Now it's not so bad."

Then something happened.

During a game, a disagreement between two people suddenly blew up into an argument involving almost everyone in the game.

Two people tried to play peacemaker. Our student, who never gets involved in these things, was one of them.

Unfortunately, the peacemakers were shouted down. Our student started to cry.

I felt awful for not being there in time (I'd been watching the other game).

"Oh no," I thought. "After all the progress she's made, she's going to go back into her shell."

In the past, this would have done her in for a couple of days, so I went to her and asked her if she needed a break.

"NO!" she shouted, "I want to play..."