This morning was the beginning of my 5 year old son's second session of TOT basketball at our local rec. center. It is definitely an experience seeing so many 3-5 year olds running around trying to learn basketball. I watched my son and the other kids warm-up, go with their assigned coaches to their designated spots, and start working on dribbling with one hand. One group had a young coach (17 years old at most) and the little ones seemed to just be standing around not doing much, but playing among themselves. The interaction between the young coach and the kids seemed minimal. Several parents approached the head coach about their concerns with the kids in that one particular group not learning like the other groups. Even though my son was not in that group, I was curious to find out what was going on because all kids have a right to learn. This is my educator mindset kicking in now. They were short several coaches for this opening session so the young man had volunteered on the spot to help. I commend this young man for attempting this because it would probably be the case if in schools we pulled a financial analyst off of the street to teach math. He may have the knowledge, but not the skills and pedagogy to engage young people. As I was in educator and then coach mode, the words, "I will go coach those kids," came out of my mouth towards the head coach and 2 moms that were standing there. That response came from nowhere, but I guess it is ingrained in me since I am constantly responding to any situation that arises at the school I serve in.
By the time I made it to the 7 kids in the group, another mom made it over to help out as well. We quickly found out that the young man knew the game of basketball, but never had to teach it, especially to 3-5 year olds. I have always said that I couldn't not teach or lead students below the middle school level. Today proved that this has been a myth in my mind that is now gone. I gained so much joy from working with the little ones. They were eager to learn, respectful, enjoyed high fives, and did their best in every drill. Once my son's group took a water break, he was looking for me and as him and I made contact, he smiled so hard and gave me a hug when he noticed what I was doing. I was shocked that he didn't try to get into my group, but once I noticed him having a ball with new friends he made in his group, he wasn't moving over to where I was.
By responding to the challenge to help kids regardless of the fact that I was primarily there to watch and support my son, 7 young kids were not bored out of their minds, which could of lead to them giving their parents resistance next Saturday morning about coming back. Just like in our schools, we must do whatever it takes to ensure that students want to get up in the morning and come to school. If we can take this day by day to respond to any situation involving kids that leave them with a feeling of accomplishment, we can start to work on attendance and tardy issues that can plague our schools.
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