My apologies for this digression. I’m loafing today in my hostel. It’s unclear whether the rioters still are active in Downtown Dakar so I decided to stay close to home for a day. Luckily Jay Mathews in the Washington Post had a brief article that inspired me to this silliness:
I teach ninth grade English but suppose I taught Volleyball:
I have two levels of Volleyball classes, honors and CP. In my honors classes I have taught my students the basics of the game (which they know already after eight years of the game). For class time we play games. My objectives are to 1) increase their enjoyment of the game believing this will make them lifelong Volleyball players; and 2) teach them a bit more about the subtleties of the game.
In general honors classes go well. The kids are obedient and they play the game from bell to bell. What they won’t do is exhibit any teamwork or evidence any willingness to progress at the game. I try to demonstrate how setting the ball up for a teammate makes the game more fun. They try this for a minute or two, then dispense with the sets and simply hit the ball back and forth across the net to the other team. I try to get them to rotate positions on the court so that they learn the skills for frontline and backline players but this too is fruitless. After a few minutes they forget about rotating and remain in whatever part of the court each player prefers.
One day I read an article in a journal about a new kind of Volleyball that teaches teamwork. It involves a larger ball, one so large that it takes two or three kids to get it over the net. I go to school excited about introducing this new game, certain (it shows in the article) that this will advance my kids’ skills. But my execution of the idea is faulty; I just haven’t done it enough to anticipate difficulties. As soon as something goes slightly awry the kids begin whining and complaining. They prefer the kind of Volleyball they know so well. I persist for a day or two at the new game before finally caving and returning to the routine.
In every honors class there is one student, generally a girl, who tries valiantly to display teamwork. Whenever the ball comes to her she dutifully sets it up for a teammate. But the teammate never reciprocates or sets the ball up for anyone else. They never rebuke the team playing kid; they simply ignore her efforts and go back to the one-ball-over system. This kid is labeled a geek.
Once every two or three weeks an administrator pops into my room to observe. If the kids are playing a game he stays for a few moments then departs. He never speaks to me (or the students!) about what he observed. I pine for him once to join in, perhaps to ask a kid to demonstrate a set or ask the kids to rotate once for him, something that would show that another adult cares about advancing their skills. But this never happens. I know that he has a long line of kids waiting outside his office to be disciplined and he has no time to linger in my classroom.
Down the hall my colleagues are drilling their honors players. Each class they practice setting up the ball and rotating. Since obedience is a given with these kids they comply with these drills, albeit in a lackluster manner. A few dedicated kids excel at setting up but most kids seem to be going through the motions. At the end of each period these kids are sometimes allowed to play an short game of Volleyball. I debate with my colleagues whether their system produces better players. They insist that it does. Since we are never allowed to play actual games against each other there is no way I can tell if I am cheating my students by not using these drills. (And even if we could play games I know that next-door’s class has a girl who is six feet two who would singlehandedly crush my kids.)
Every six weeks or so the school asks us to administer a written test on the rules of Volleyball and players are asked to do setups. My colleague's students do slightly better on these tests than my students.
My CP classes are a whole other thing. They hate Volleyball, or so the most vocal will say. When I try to get games started the class divides into three groups. Group I are the truly disaffected. They ignore the game and try to invent other activities to amuse themselves. They fly paper airplanes, braid hair, anything to get through the period. Once in a while if the ball ventures into their consciousness one will boot it across the street or on top of the gym roof. If I haven’t sent a kid to the office recently I will try to control this by sending the boot kid to the office. I construct treaties with this group: “If you stop kicking the ball across the street I will leave you alone.” I feel considerable guilt about this. When I speak to my boss about it he says he understands and probably would do the same thing. By the end of the year one or two of this group will have been expelled from school (where does a fifteen year old go if he is expelled?) One or two will simply disappear, a daily absentee on my roster.
Group II are the indifferents. They spend the period gossiping with each other. If the ball comes to them they ignore it, allowing it to lie on the ground at their feet till someone retrieves it. I spend most of my time with this group trying to find a few kids who might be persuaded to join in the game. Occasionally one kid will play the game for a few days. This gets me excited. But generally the allure of the game can’t match the enjoyment of being in a clique. The borderline kid generally returns to his friends, the game forgotten. A few of these kids pass the class with a D or D- because they participate just enough. About half will fail. When I speak to the parents of these kids they tell me a) I’m lying. My kid would never misbehave; b) I’m sorry my kid does those things but I can’t control him either; c) do the best that you can and I’ll support you from home.
Group III usually constitute about ten kids per class. They don’t like the honors kids so they enroll in CP, but they don’t hate Volleyball and are willing to play. Their skills are below the honors level so the rallies in their games are very short. I go home saddened that I can’t help these kids to improve. I spend so much time monitoring Groups I and II that I can’t give much attention to Group III. The school maintains that both honors and CP classes learn the same things. It is true that both are studying Volleyball.
Last year our school went on Program Improvement. The district hired a consultant who sold us a program from the leading Volleyball manufacturer. Each class does the same drills at the same time followed by frequent testing of the drilled subjects. I still try to sneak in games with my honors kids and, since I’m seldom observed, I manage to keep some fun in these classes. We are getting a new principal next year and I fear he will end all Volleyball games. The CP classes are pretty much unchanged by the ‘Pacing Guide’ since so few participate under either regimen. We do more drills in CP and play less Volleyball but the cooperative kids don’t complain—I wish they would.
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