PAY ATTENTION!-How to help athletes struggling to focus.
9/26 PAY ATTENTION!
Why is it so hard to keep some students focused and on task? If they love the sport, shouldn’t they want to pay attention and participate? You would think so, but there are so many factors that affect kids and their minds and the more we remember that, the easier it is to work with them. Students aren’t always being obstinate when they are struggling to pay attention, there could just be a lot on their minds. So how do we help them when reminders don’t work? Here are a few ideas:
Talk to them. You know your athletes and their typical behavior, so if they are acting out of the norm, ask them what’s going on. They could have had a bad day at school, a fight with a parent, or are looking forward to something coming up. Talk to them about what’s causing the change in behavior and help them to figure out how to move forward with practice.
Keep them in close proximity. Remember when you would be messing around in class and your teacher would walk by? You would straighten up pretty quickly, right? That’s what proximity does- it gives a silent yet immediate reminder to students that you are paying attention. Proximity can also be used as a consequence when a student is struggling with freedom, by allowing you to keep an eye on them.
Give them a job or challenge. It might seem counterintuitive, but if a student is struggling to focus, sometimes it helps to give them something specific to focus on. This could be a job such as holding your clipboard or getting a piece of equipment, or a challenge where they have to complete a circuit a specific number of times. By narrowing their focus, they may have an easier time staying on task.
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Anticipate & Communicate- How to make working with parents easier.
9/19/2024
Let’s face it, we can’t make everyone happy. We can try our hardest and do what we feel is best for the group, but in the end there will probably be at least one unhappy person. When it comes to dealing with our athletes’ parents, you can expect the same. Every athlete and their family is in a different financial situation, with a different schedule, and a different family dynamic meaning a “one size fits all” solution isn’t possible. So how do we best handle this so that we minimize tension and anxiety? Anticipate and Communicate.
When you anticipate, you are looking ahead. This might mean looking ahead at the competition schedule and anticipating the questions parents might ask or seeing that there is an upcoming school break and planning your practices around them. By anticipating, we know what to expect and how to prepare,which allows us to communicate to parents sooner. Communicating early and often is not only helpful to parents, it is appreciated as well. Like everyone, they are juggling a lot, so the more they know and the sooner they know it, the easier it is for them to prepare.
Now, you may be asking, how does this help me? Well, informed parents are happy parents, meaning you are dealing with fewer questions, less arguing, and minimized frustrations. You won’t always be able to give them answers, but communicating that to them is still a form of anticipating and communicating. You are anticipating that you won’t be able to answer their question, so you tell them when you think you will be able to. We are all busy and it may seem like constant communication is too time consuming, but in the end it will save you from hearing the same question 30 times or dealing with a parent who is frustrated about not knowing information sooner. So save yourself the headache and send that email.