Stuents who refuse to participate...

[Alvinsrc04]

I have one female student who absoulutely refuses to participate. My grading system allows students to gain 10 points a day for participating. Obviously, by not participating he/she gains 0 points. I tend to pro rate the points for those who participate some, but not all, of the class period. This student does not care about points or even passing the class. She refuses to play games, participate in discussions, or even move from the bleachers. Detention has been given, letters have been sent home, and she is on the vurge of failing. How can I turn her negative attitude toward P.E. into a more positive one?

[Nryan5714]

First off I think you need to talk with her to possibly find out why she won't participate. Talk to her and see if you can work something out. Ask her if she has any ideas. Is she an outsider?? not many friends?? overweight???
If you could give a little background on her it might help.

nryan5714

[CyberPEteacher]

I would suggest finding out what the student would like to do and either giving them a role with that response, if there is one. Otherwise, you could provide alternative assignments during the semester that would at least determine if this student understands the important concepts being taught during the grading period.

I know this sounds simplistic but some students need a sense of purpose in the class. I would suggest that taking the motto of "failure is not an option", will likely help you find a way to help this student and others like her down the road.

[jrquel]

I have one female student who absoulutely refuses to participate. My grading system allows students to gain 10 points a day for participating. Obviously, by not participating he/she gains 0 points. I tend to pro rate the points for those who participate some, but not all, of the class period. This student does not care about points or even passing the class. She refuses to play games, participate in discussions, or even move from the bleachers. Detention has been given, letters have been sent home, and she is on the vurge of failing. How can I turn her negative attitude toward P.E. into a more positive one?

Do you know her interestes? Maybe if you find something that she is interested in that might get her a little more motivated. Maybe try and give her responsiblity such as, have her help you. Give her a job or task that she can do on her own. Maybe she just doesn't like participating with others. Giving her a job and telling her she did well might motivate her to try harder and care about things. Hope this helps.

[douglassnow]

I have one female student who absoulutely refuses to participate. My grading system allows students to gain 10 points a day for participating. Obviously, by not participating he/she gains 0 points. I tend to pro rate the points for those who participate some, but not all, of the class period. This student does not care about points or even passing the class. She refuses to play games, participate in discussions, or even move from the bleachers. Detention has been given, letters have been sent home, and she is on the vurge of failing. How can I turn her negative attitude toward P.E. into a more positive one?

Speaking as one former male student who absolutely refused to participate in P.E., I think I understand where your non-participating female student is coming from. You might check to see how she's doing in the rest of her classes--and I imagine you'll find that she's performing at grade level. You will probably also find that she enjoys non-competitive, non-team-oriented physical activity, such as swimming and bicycling. What, I venture, she hates and refuses to participate in, precisely, is participation itself. There are those of us--and I should think more girls than boys--who find the very idea of being on a sports team, or in a military unit, abhorrent. And why should we not? What have you and the physical regimentation of your P.E. class to offer us? Already you have proceeded to punitive detention at school, harassing her at home, and threatening to "fail" her (which would certainly have negative, if not disastrous consequences for her GPA); all in an effort--not to teach her something--but to extort from her conformity to the brutal discipline of your notion of "physical education." Have you any idea of how loathsome, despicable, and utterly predictable that makes you in her eyes? You can kiss your chances of persuading her to find something positive in P.E. good-bye.

[weissice]

Many students don't like to participate in competitive games when they feel like they are not ready. Too often, physical education teachers treat classes as if they are on a team. Not everyone wants to play team sports. Additionally, there are so many different levels of ability in each class, that playing team sports do not really make sense. The students who are athletes and want to play team sports can find an outlet in recreation, leagues and school teams.

That does not mean you shouldn't teach the skills that are necessary to play team sports. But they should be taught in a fun cooperative way. Games should be small sided and modified. Students can also be given choices about the level of competition they wish to enter. For example, at one basket, you might have a regular three on three game. At another basket, you might have a modified game that requires no dribble, just passing. At another basket, you might have a shooting game. At the same time, you might have some fitness areas or cooperative games for those students who have no desire to play basketball. After all basketball may be fun, but it is certainly not a requirement for success in life.

Your program should be geared to meet the needs of all students, not just the athletic. We often leave the non-athletic students behind and these are the ones who are in danger of becoming couch potatoes.

Please read my views on my web site. Click on PE Views and then click on Dodgeball and more.

Howie Weiss
http://www.weissice.com

[dhubert52]

Students like these are very common in classes today, one way to maybe go about it is try and talk to her on a personal level. Connecting with the student in ways many teachers do not gives them more willingness to participate or even try something that is out of their norm. With these types of students it is best to not give up!