Five- bat blog

My level of effort and engagement today: Merit

Why have you placed yourself at this level? Give supporting evidence.

This lesson we played a game of five bat against a year 13 class. It was quite tough because they played the game a lot more tactically than us and also slightly cheated the rules at times. They absolutely annihilated us. Their ball throwers seemed to be a lot more powerful and correctly timed than ours, they had a line of people stand in front of the runners to protect them so they didn’t get out, their bowls were a lot more accurate. I bowled a couple of times and somehow I managed to end up near the front of the line each time because nobody seemed to really want to participate and would try and stand as newest tot he back of the line as possible. I didn’t gas bag with my friends to an extent that was stopping me participating and I feel as if I contributed somewhat positively to the team play.

Factors that influence participation: fun & enjoyment, challenge, social factors

Factor 1: fun & enjoyment + Factor 2: challenge + Factor 3: social factors

As much as I don’t enjoy loosing, I enjoyed playing against a bigger and better team because it’s a good challenge and it keeps things interesting. It keeps everybody striving and trying; whereas if you were winning by a mile (as the other team was) you’d perhaps slack off a bit. Lots of funny things happened and I found myself laughing often, which made it all the more enjoyable. These two factors influenced my participation by making me want to participate because we were doing something new and different. Until this term we’d not played any games against other classes so it was a cool new environment to be put into. Friends make everything the merrier, and I always enjoy doing sport with mates. I know most of the people in my P.E class reasonably well, but those in the other class not so much, so it was a nice mixture of individuals.

Bearing in mind the criteria in Resource 1, what could you do to improve your future participation?

I think to improve my future participation I could have maybe suggested we have a team talk to suss out what tactics we were going to go into the game with, because we went in quite cold and nobody really knew what we were doing and we didn’t have a game plan. The other class worked together well the last time we played them so we should have assumed the same this time and come into the situation more prepared.

Wharf blog

My level of effort and engagement today: Achieved- Merit

Why have you placed yourself at this level? Give supporting evidence.

This lesson was relatively laid back and pretty relaxed, considering we just wandered down to the wharf, jumped off a few times and then wandered back to school. Though I did actually participate, whereas many people did not go in the water.

Factors that influence participation: fun & enjoyment, social factors and environmental appreciation

Factor 1: environmental appreciation

I love the ocean; surfing, swimming, skim boarding, sailing, jumping off things- whatever it is, if it has to do with the sea I’m there. I have great appreciation and respect for the ocean and I love being in and around it. So environmental appreciation influenced my participation by motivating me to get dressed quickly and skip to the wharf because I was looking forward to it.

Factor 2: social factors + Factor 3: fun & enjoyment

It was quite a cold day and a couple of the girls didn’t really want to jump in once the realisation had set in that the water would be absolutely freezing. But you just end up joking around and bating them and taking the micky out of them and eventually everyone gets in the water and you have a good time. I get great fun and enjoyment out of spending time with good friends and making new ones, and all of the people in my P.E class are really cool and interesting and I enjoy getting to know them better each time. So this influences my participation in making me actually want to be there, rather than wishing I was somewhere else doing something else.

Bearing in mind the criteria in Resource 1, what could you do to improve your future participation?

I’m not too sure what I could have done to improve my participation to be honest, this lesson was really just about jumping off the wharf in the cold and that is exactly what I did, and other than that there’s not much else I could have done.

Weights room blog 2

My level of effort and engagement today: Excellence

Why have you placed yourself at this level? Give supporting evidence.

I have placed my level of effort and engagement at an excellence for this session for a few different reasons. First of all, I got out of the changing rooms and into the weights room in a reasonable amount of time, which sometimes doesn’t happen because girls take aaaaaages to get dressed and you end up waiting for them. I then went for a solid warm up run with Eve which was really enjoyable, around the field. When I got back I suggested to the group of girls that looked slightly lost that we’d do an interval training type of thing in partners, which worked really well for about 15 minutes. Then everyone dispersed and did their own things, so I took advantage of the weights and the machinery that I don’t have at home and did some different exercises I’ve learnt previously on them. It’s so much more interesting when you’ve got all of this different equipment in front of you (that you don’t usually have access to, I mean) and so you get to spice up your workout a little bit with exercises you don’t do too often. I then went for a run to finish the session off too, again with Eve, which was really good. We then stretched together and the whole thing felt really well planned and I had slightly sore muscles the next day; so I know I did something right.

Factors that influence participation: fun & enjoyment, challenge, social factors

Factor 1: fun & enjoyment + Factor 2: challenge + Factor 3: social factors

I really enjoy physical activity in all forms really, and I enjoy strength training that much more. Since my accident i’m restricted in term of what exercises I can do, but that didn’t really bother me at all in the end. It’s such a great feeling achieving things that you didn’t think you were capable of and so I get fun and enjoyment out of coming face to face with and tackling a challenge. I also got a lot of fun and enjoyment out of using different equipment that is not like the stuff I have at home, and so if you’re an avid exercise person like me you’ll know the feeling of getting to play with new toys. It’s great. It keeping your mind interested in what you’re doing because the same old exercises can get sort of boring and loose their excitement after a while. So this influenced my participation in that it made me enthused and exited and really wanting to work out well!!! Some people in my class I talk to more than others, some of which I barely talk to at all. And so it was really neat when I suggested to the girls that we all do something together, they were like ‘yeah okay’ and so we struggled through the pain and had a bit of a laugh together, which was really enjoyable. And doing things with and around your friends always makes me more competitive, so I tried some bench pressing and a few other exercises which I might not have done if other people weren’t challenging me to do so. I also really enjoyed running with Eve, because we don’t really associate with each other that much out of school because of our quite different friend groups, and I found out that other than being quite good at and enjoying running, we are both very similar in many other ways and have so much in common.

Bearing in mind the criteria in Resource 1, what could you do to improve your future participation?

To improve my future participation I think I probably could have nagged a few other people to join in and show them some cool things or challenge them (Soph, Jaz etc) because I think they’d find they quite enjoy it. I also think if I knew that we were going to be in the weights room even when I was in the changing room, I could have better planned what I was going to do because I forget sometimes that I am slightly restricted. So that would have saved the time I spent thinking when I could actually have been doing. Not that those breaks were even a bad thing now that I think about it, because they gave me a chance to catch my breath and stretch a little or grab a drink of water.

Weights room Blog 1

My level of effort and engagement today: Achieved

Why have you placed yourself at this level? Give supporting evidence.

Today I wasn’t able to physically participate in the lesson in the same way as everyone else, but I was given the task of helping people out if they needed it, which it turned out they did. I know a little bit about gym equipment and how to perform some exercises so I recommended some exercises here and spotted some people there. Though I obviously wasn’t going through the physical exertion that others were so I don’t believe I could really make my level anymore than an achieved.

Factors that influence participation: environmental appreciation, social factors, equipment needed

Factor 1: environmental appreciation

I am fully aware that a gym is not usually what you’d call an environment and I get that it’s not a forest, but it is a type of cultural environment. And I appreciate it because it is a place where people go to better themselves, get fitter, achieve goals and push limits. The environment is made even better when it’s filled with a bunch of your friends; some of which know what they’re doing, some of which don’t and some of which don’t give a crap- it’s a good laugh.

Factor 2: equipment needed

Before my injury I used to go to the gym a fair bit and so I know my way around one. So I was able to lend some technique advice to some people and show a few people how to use certain pieces of equipment and recommend exercises. It influenced my participation because when you see somebody using a piece of equipment incorrectly or not to their full potential, you want to correct them and show them the way so they can get the best out of the exercise.

Factor 3: social factors

The fact that all of my friends were there makes it all the more enjoyable because it’s fun yelling at (motivating) your friends when they’re trying something challenging or helping them out by spotting them. It gives the gym good vibes and all in all it’s a good time when you can have a quick chat to them in their breaks or show them something new.

Bearing in mind the criteria in Resource 1, what could you do to improve your future participation?

I’m not sure how else i could really involve myself under the circumstances I was in, so yeah I am unaware of what I could have done to improve my future participation- other than to actually be able to physically participate obviously.

Crossfit Assessment Blog

My level of effort and engagement today: Merit- Excellence

Why have you placed yourself at this level? Give supporting evidence.

I have placed myself at this level today because I believe I put a considerable amount of effort into my participation today. Sophie and I went as partners, she went first. I talked to her and yelled at her and gave her encouraging words that hopefully helped her push through some of the exercises and it was great seeing her achieve things that she perhaps she didn’t even think she could do. I then myself warmed up, and talked through a bit of a game plan with Benita about where I would push myself the hardest, what exercises I found the most difficult and where I would absolutely gun it. And it was really great having Benita there giving me encouragement and pushing me, because I find that it makes me want to push myself even further.

Factors that influence participation: fun & enjoyment, challenge, social factors (being able to play with and against my mates)

Factor 1: fun & enjoyment + Factor: challenge (merged into one)

I really enjoy exercise, all types of exercise; strength training, endurance training; whatever. Before my accident I was in peak fitness and really progressing and growing in terms of my exercise. But having this accident and, for example, not being allowed to do even one press up for three months really made my fitness deteriorate and so I’ve spend lots of energy and time building back up my fitness. And you realise that it is so much easier to fin fun and enjoyment in something that you are good at. So for a change, I’ve not been that good at fitness and exercise and have had to see things from a different perspective. I’ve had to find fun and enjoyment in the challenge of getting fitter once again, which is quite difficult when you realise that you’ve spent most of your life as a fit an healthy person and all of a sudden it has been taken away from you and you’ve got to go through it all again. So I have learnt to find fun and enjoyment in things that I find difficult, which I’ve always had in me, but obviously a lot more things are difficult now that I am not as fit. I find fun and enjoyment in exercise and that it why I push my boundaries and limits and step out of my comfort zone because it feels so good when you look back and see what you have accomplished!!!

Factor 3: social factors

I am a very social person and I enjoy doing things with and talking to other people. And I thought it was really cool when I was looking around during the cross fit assessment and there were all these people working really hard and other people talking and motivating them; such a great environment and good vibes. Having other people there around you and talking to them and smiling and saying ‘keep going!!’ to others helps me to motivate myself and do better. I am not exactly sure why, but it does. Having your friends there also helps you feel less pressure and not feel silly if you’re trying seriously hard, because everyone around you (or almost everyone, anyway) is doing the same.

Bearing in mind the criteria in Resource 1, what could you do to improve your future participation?

As with any exercise challenge you always kick yourself in the ass afterwards saying that you could have done a little bit better here and a little bit better there; but in truth you did as much as you possibly could at the time and that’s all you can really ask of yourself. So of course, on things that I could improve about my participation, i’d put ‘trying even harder’.

Turbo Touch Blog 1

My level of effort and engagement today: Excellence

Why have you placed yourself at this level? Give supporting evidence.

I have placed myself at this level because I feel as if I participated to my absolute fullest. At the beginning of the lesson, I helped gather and set up the equipment (e.g mark out the field). I then kind of took a lead role in stating that we should split into teams and allocated two team captains who then chose the teams quickly and efficiently. We got into game play shortly after and the whole process was really quick and easy and for once everyone was being really co- operative. I was really full of energy so I was on my toes and playing quite well. I enjoy playing against the guys because they are so much more competitive and give me a good challenge.

Factors that influence participation: fun & enjoyment, challenge, social factors (being able to play with and against my mates)

Factor 1: fun & enjoyment

This whole lesson was really fun and enjoyable. When I’m having fun and enjoying myself I find it much easier to push myself and try new things and get more involved in general. It was a hot and sunny day and everyone seemed really happy and the vibes were really great- it was hard not to enjoy yourself when you’re in that kind of environment.

Factor 2: challenge

I like the challenge that comes with playing turbo touch because there are lots of players in a relatively small space so you have to be quick and sure with your movements. Add in the competitive nature of the game (stemming especially from the guys) and it gets quite tough and challenging. Being faced with a challenge influences my participation by making me play harder and better. I enjoy a good challenge and personal find it a great motivator.

Factor 3: social factors (being able to play with and against my mates)

I love participating in physical activity; especially with my friends. My mates in this class are so great and I really enjoy playing turbo touch with them. They’re a great bunch of people and it’s great fun having a laugh with them on the field about how so- and- so runs funny and so- and- so just dived head first into the ground. It makes the whole situation so much more enjoyable when you’re doing it with a good crowd.

Bearing in mind the criteria in Resource 1, what could you do to improve your future participation?

Because the teacher wasn’t there, there wasn’t really anybody keeping everyone in check. So when people felt like subbing, there were lots of people sitting on the sideline having ac hat and doing their own thing, and in the end we were all having a lot of fun and not really wanting to sub anyway. So only about half to three quarters of the class were actually actively participating in the game. The people on the field (me included) were only subbing if someone on the sideline said they wanted to go on, so unless they did so they didn’t really get a look in. I think to improve my future participation I would sub more often to give others a go, even though they were trying to avoid it. Because they might have found they actually enjoyed themselves.

Mud run

Barrel stack

Tennis & Basketball practice blog entry’s