Too much for 8th grader?

Quoted message said:

Just my opinion, of course.

You remind me of the single relative with no kids, who always tells the people
with several kids how to raise them the RIGHT way...

[email hidden] (SandBarz) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I have an eighth grader who started cross country at his small junior high/
high school last year and did well and fell in love with it. This year the
school hired a new baseball coach who is young and fit and is trying to get the
entire school fit as quickly as possible. So my son has PE last period and has
been required to run the gym (standard basketball court) for 40-50 minutes,
alternating with days of weight lifting. He has been too tired and sore most
afternoons to enjoy his cross country training at 5:45 pm because of the
rigorous PE training. At the request of our cross country coach the PE coach
did change the running routine, requiring only about twenty minutes of running
then 200 ab crunches, then more running.

With daily PE and cross-country, this seems like an exessive amount of workout
for a 85 lb eighth grader. He is miserable but wants to keep training for
cross-country. He just wishes he didn't hurt so bad while running. The PE coach
is unlikely to ease up any more than he has (or hasn't).

Suggestions?

For those of us who don't reside in the US, what age is "eigth grade"?

Edward

"Edward" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For those of us who don't reside in the US, what age is "eigth grade"?

Assuming one starts school at age 5 and is in 8th grade they are 5+8=13
years old. High school finishes at grade 12 which is about 17-18 years
old. Again, it depends on the state when one is allow to start
kindergarten. I stated school at age 4 and graduated HS just 17.

-DougF

Quoted message said:

For those of us who don't reside in the US, what age is "eigth grade"?

About 12YO, or in Dougs case, 39YO.

Quoted message said:

and graduated HS

LMFAO! Good one Doug! Like anyone here'd believe you graduated at all, over
even made it past middle school...

[email hidden] (SandBarz) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Suggestions?

My approach is less of a runner and more as a pre-service teacher.

I agree with a lot of the advice here except that parents should butt
out of their kids' educations. In America, the model is that parents
are the first and primary educators of their kids. Parental
involvement is key to student success.

Talk to some of the other X-country parents. Are their kids also
having problems or not enjoying the class? I would think that most
kids would not enjoy these activites.

Basically, there is a movement towards Standards-based education in
America. Find these standards for your state. I suggest using this
nice link:

http://www.education-world.com/standards/state/toc/index.shtml

Usually, teachers are legally required by their contract to tie their
activities to standards. Look at your state standards and see if this
teacher might be able to justify the endless laps.

If your state does not have PE standards, you might look at the
National Standards:
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Standard.asp?SubjectID=18

By clicking on the standard you can see what traits are appropriate
for each grade level. In 7th and 8th grade, the emphasis in the
National Standards for PE is on skill development in individual, dual
& team sports/dance & rythm/outdoor activities. This is why most of
us think of playing a variety of sports in middle school.

Running in a circle is NOT skill building.

Now find the parent that is the best communicator. Think cool-headed,
friendly, affable and a bit of a salesman. Have that parent speak to
the teacher about some of the parents' concerns.

Come up with specific examples and name names. Tell the teacher
sincerely that you appreciate his goals. Kids should be more fit.
It's a truly excellent goal and it's also awesome that he's trying to
take action that directly leads to this goal.

And then direct this first year teacher to a great mentor. Who is the
best gym teacher in local towns? Why is he or she great? Diversity
of activities...attitude...winning record? Your teacher wants to
encourage student fitness so you probably want to choose a mentor
teacher who also has this focus.

So your conversation would go like this:

Looks like the baseball team is going to be good this year, huh? Then
chit-chat [to build repetoire/common interest]

You know we are really excited to have you coaching our guys. You
have great enthusiam. I'm glad we have a PE teacher with such great
energy. I've noticed lately that alot of that energy seems directed
at getting kids fit. Obviously, fitness is a great goal for kids.
You know the state standards in PE talk about how the goal of PE is to
get kids physically active. But I was chatting with a couple of the
cross country kids yesterday and I think these 2-a-day running
practices are a little much for them.

[In teaching lingo, the compliments are the one-to-glow step.
Bringing up the problem begins the one-to-grow step.]

For example, last week Ilene Cummings really struggled with cross
country practice. Ilene's legs have been hurting her quite a bit. I
think that the gym running and the cross country is simply too much
for her still developing legs. You know, Jim Cummings is really
athletic and he really enjoys working hard in PE class. But Jim has
been struggling with this combination of running non-stop laps in
class and cross country. And my son Jason is really starting to hate
running so much because he has a lot of joint paint. I think you and
I agree that kids have to be fit. You have such a great way with
these kids. Do you think we could come up with some ways to help kids
be injury free and less sore?

[Basically you put the ball in his court and ask him to solve the
problem. If he has nothing good to say or goes on the defensive,
retreat. Just keep directing him to ways that we might work on this
problem of students feeling sore and injured. You might want to write
down different options he comes up with.

Likewise, you can lead him to consulting with a master teacher.]

It'd be great if somebody else could help us with this problem.
Hmmm...hey what about Bob Jones at the High School. You know he's a
baseball coach and he helps out with the cross country program at the
fall. Maybe Bob could help you and the cross country coach sit down
and hammer out options to help us avoid sore, injured kids."

[Basically, in the end the teacher is the decision maker in the
classroom. You want to help him come up with options and start
looking at all the alternatives that are available to him.

If this teacher does not respond or take steps to amend the situation
within 3 or 4 weeks, you need to meet with the x-country coach, the
gym teacher, an experienced PE teacher and an administrator
(preferably the principal).

Have the exact same affable conversation again. You want something
here (the teacher to change) so you need to be able to be both
flexible and to have good back-up.

This is where I come back to the standards. These are what the
teacher needs to be teaching (or at least tying his activities to).
If he can not tie student activity to the standard, he should not be
teaching it during work hours.

In the end, if a first year teacher is not working out, now is the
time to get rid of him. If the school keeps him too long, they will
sign him to a contract and never be able to get rid of him.]