How my Basketball debut made me think about some students I know.

I played my first game of Basketball last week.
I had no idea what I was doing.
My mates said, 'Just defend you'll be fine.'

So I stayed in defence and gave away my full allocation of fouls before half time...Its five yeah? The umpire (or is it referee) said, 'That is five fouls number 9?'He waited for me to move but I just stood in there not having a clue what he was talking about. The other team said, 'Keep him on we don't mind.'

I got the ball soon after and was called for travelling.

My team yelled at me to move up the court not just to stay in the 'D' so I ran to the other end as we attacked. Then the ref got me in trouble for something like staying in a circle too long. I have no idea.

Anyway by the end of the game I had a little bit of an idea what was going on but my confidence was down, the ref clearly didn't like me and although my teammates supported me massively I felt like a failure.

The whole experience reminded me of the kids in some classes I have observed.

They don't know or understand some rules. They don't know or understand some strategies or practices others take for granted. Such as working in a team or the teachers vocabulary.   When you are doing something for the first time it can be exciting, cause anxiety and make you reluctant to have another try. I think we can all learn from my attempt at playing Basketball. Think about some of the children you come across who don't know what a classroom foul is, who cant do the skills like dribbling, and who have no idea about the time limits in the D.

Maybe we need to teach students the simple classroom practices and strategies we take for granted... I know I need to and I wish someone had taught me them before I hit the court.