| Author |
Message |
Erin McGovern (Erinmc10)
Junior Member
Username: Erinmc10
Post Number: 3
Registered: 2-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 1:50 pm: |       |
I have been observing classes in secondary PE and my teacher only uses captains to pick the teams in gym class. The same girls and guys are picked first every time and the same students are left waiting on the line, begging for their name to be called. I am not sure how you guys feel? Not only does this seem old fashioned, but I believe there are several other ways of choosing teams without causing embarassment to almost half the class. What are your ways or ideas of avoiding this in class? |
steve acree (Stephenpe)
Advanced Member
Username: Stephenpe
Post Number: 70
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:03 am: | |
Teacher is way off base. There are so many easy ways to do it. I count them off to make sure teams are even if I can. Sometimes I let the captains make 2 or 3 picks then I pick the rest.
Sometimes I even let the last two I pick choose their teams to play on. NEVER let them pick all the way down to the last. |
Lisa Glenner (Lcglen)
Junior Member
Username: Lcglen
Post Number: 2
Registered: 2-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 9:52 pm: | |
I have also noticed this occuring in the PE classes that I have been observing. Having student captains pick teams has its benefits, such as allowing students to take on leadership roles, however I agree that before allowing a small number of students to be picked last it is important for the educator to step in divide up to remaining students. |
Kara Wanderlich (Kwanderl)
Junior Member
Username: Kwanderl
Post Number: 4
Registered: 2-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 3:35 pm: | |
Erin, I am so glad that you brought this topic up! This is something that makes me so enraged. I have been the person who is the last to be picked and it is so embarassing. I think that captains picking teams is the worst way to go about picking teams especially in younger students because it can cause a student to lower their self esteem because they do not believe that they are "good enough" to be chosen first. I was in a flag football class and the teacher allowed for the first members of the teams to be chosen by captains, but after that he determined who went to which team. This was a great alternative. |
nadia torres (Mst)
Junior Member
Username: Mst
Post Number: 8
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 6:05 am: | |
absolutely 1000%...what kara and lisa said. i hate when captains pick for the whole team. the best way to really go is to have the captains pick a few players they really want and then it's your decision. no hurt feelings-no embarassment. good question. |
Andrea Vasil (Aev9715)
Junior Member
Username: Aev9715
Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 4:17 pm: | |
I agree with all of you that allowing the captains to pick a few people to start, could be bennificial. But who determines who the captain is? Usually the same people get picked for captains again and again. That isn't fair. I also think it could be harmful, if say, a less athletic person was picked to be captain, I know that the attitudes of other people change. The best way I have seen, and this is the way it was done in my school, is for the teacher to match up kids of about the same skill level and to split them up on separate teams. And it is also best to have the teams already made up and to name people in a random order, so as not to discourage anyone from wanting to participate, because let's face it, participation is the most important part of a physical education class. |
Amy Hrzic (Zigmaster15)
Junior Member
Username: Zigmaster15
Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 8:21 pm: | |
When I was in high school we had team captions, but the first day of school the teacher would pick two guys and two girls and let them pick their teams off of a roster so that no one would know who was picked last or first. |
Michael Lucas (Mgl9323)
Junior Member
Username: Mgl9323
Post Number: 2
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 10:58 am: | |
During my senior year of high school my teacher used captains. However, He would choose different students to be captains every time. Sometimes choosing the students who always seemed to be picked last and making them a captain really changed up the teams, because they wanted friends on their team along with the better athletes in the class. Along with captains, we would count off by numbers and other methods as well. I believe changing the method of selection every time is a good idea. |
Heather Marie Farley (Hmf1830)
Junior Member
Username: Hmf1830
Post Number: 2
Registered: 9-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - 1:37 pm: | |
I think captains in general are a bad idea. At the summer camp I work at we pick teams by sometimes giving them different animals such as dolphins and monkeys and all of the "monkeys" are on one team and the "dolphins" on the other. However, we switch it up all of the time because kids are smart and catch on quickly. The other way we pick teams is by splitting them up by ability so the teams are fair. Obviously we don’t tell the students that they are being spilt up by ability. |
Connie (Ccoachy)
Junior Member
Username: Ccoachy
Post Number: 2
Registered: 3-2008
| | Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 12:23 pm: | |
I sometimes have them play "Odds vs Evens" which is the number that corresponds to their name on my roll list. Also, sometimes I have them choose a partner,and one sits and one stands. The standers are one team and all who sit are the other. |
Christopher Johnston (Cmj0333)
Junior Member
Username: Cmj0333
Post Number: 2
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Monday, April 06, 2009 - 2:19 pm: | |
I agree the teacher is absolutely wrong in how he or she is picking teams. Captains are absolutely not the right way. I believe the best option is splitting the boys and girls up and having them count off, that way each team has an equal number of each gender and no one gets picked last. |
Leonard C. Wright IV (Lenndogg40)
New member
Username: Lenndogg40
Post Number: 1
Registered: 2-2009
| | Posted on Monday, April 06, 2009 - 5:32 pm: | |
I believe picking teams by captains is old fashion and the easy way out for choosing teams. Students are discouraged when picked last and will be turned off toward PE and maybe physical activity overall. I agree with Heather on using different techniques like cards, animals, and color erasers, and so on to pick different teams. |
Diane Bilyeu (Dabs)
Junior Member
Username: Dabs
Post Number: 2
Registered: 7-2010
| | Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2010 - 7:11 pm: | |
I agree that choosing teams is a delicate issue for students. Not only do you want to protect the student's self esteem, but you also want to provide for fair competition. I often choose captains by taking the first two girls to enter the locker room to be the captains for the day/activity. I give them a list of the students and send them to the gym, alone, to choose teams. The captains then read the teams, in alphabetical order, so no one knows when they were chosen. Sometimes you get a girl who is more interested in her friends than the activity, but more often than not the teams end up fair.I change teams often to keep things interesting and to avoid "uneven" teams for any length of time. This also allows for more students the opportunity to be captain during the course of the semester. |
Ben Kocher (Benk)
Junior Member
Username: Benk
Post Number: 4
Registered: 9-2010
| | Posted on Monday, October 04, 2010 - 5:55 pm: | |
Choosing teams by having elected captains is never a good idea. It usually leaves the same couple kids being picked last which has to have a negative affect on them. |
Jennifer Peterson (Jenpete78)
Junior Member
Username: Jenpete78
Post Number: 4
Registered: 1-2011
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 9:41 am: | |
This is a horrible way to pick teams!!! I always pick the teams in my classes. That way every team is equal and nobody is getting left out. If the teams aren't equal then one team dominates, then they get cocky, then the other teams don't try, then they goof off and equipment gets broken or someone says something and a fight starts. The only time I even have captains is during my "Superstars" unit, and even then I pick who the captains are. The only time I let students pick their own teams is at the end of a unit I will tell them to get into a certain amount of teams (4, 6 or 8) then I put the "better" teams against each other. I haven't heard of anyone letting students be captains and lining the class up to pick one by one for teams anymore. That is way to old school!! |
