Our first day at St. Mary's

The interaction between my peers and myself with the St. Mary’s changed throughout out our first lab. At first they didn’t listen very well and it was hard to get all of their attentions, also not everyone was participating during the first couple of activities. It took a lot of effort to get some of them involved, but once we started getting down on one knee and explaining the activities to them and displaying our excitement in the activities and the students who were participating well, the majority of the students were playing the activities we presented them.

            When we first arrived one of the first activities we played was Chinese Temple Tag, and I noticed that some of the students were not participating. One student, Nicholas, went over to the other side of the gym looking for a basketball, and when I asked why he wasn’t playing he said, “it’s stupid and boring,” his lack of interest was probably due to his higher motor development than the other students who were having fun playing tag, while he wanted to play more advanced games. Another student who I tried to get to play said, “she didn’t want to because it was stupid,” also, she also was probably ready for more advanced games, but since her close friends were having fun playing she ended up playing, sticking close to their side. From my observations I would say that grade level, gender, and ability all influence motor behavior.

Based on my observations there were many differences among the students, whether it was gender, age, or skill level, they were all different. I met one student, Jacob who was I believe only 6 but he was a very talented basketball player and was capable of making shots that most other students regardless of age could make. So his skill level was high compared to others although he was younger than most. I think a low skill level can be a big turn off for some students trying new activities. I met another boy who was older than Jacob but wasn’t as skilled shooter as him, and when I tried to get him to try and shoot over hand he only tried once, missing the hoop, and then he would not try again. He continued to play however; he was bigger than Jacob and could get the ball easier, so instead of trying to improve his shooting skill level he relied on his size, age, to play.