Sportsmanship and Fair Play

Okay so it's been a while since I posted.  Frankly, I have so many thoughts going through my head, I have not been able to write them down in anything that makes sense.  I've tried, erased, tried, deleted, tried and left sitting several times.  So, I hope you are still out there, waiting patiently for me to get my thoughts all lined up in a row, which may never happen, but thanks for being patient anyway!

A new school year has started up and is in full swing.  The problem is, school is in full swing, but I seem not to be.  Something is different.  Not my students (they stay the same on the colony), but me.   I still love being a teacher but I can't get things together and feel like I'm always running behind this year.  Things keep piling up and I have limited motivation to do them.  I think my mind is focussed on something else - go figure!

Anyways, today was not good to say the least.  Don't get me wrong, colony teaching has perks, lots of them but it also has quirks, LOTS of them.  It is frustrating that students get pulled whenever, for whatever reason.  School is the last priority and this year parents haven't even been giving me the courtesy of letting me know when a student will be gone - frustrating!  Frustrating because often it's more than one student and that affects the others I am trying to teach - do I continue on and make the students missing fall behind (which punishes me in the end) or do I hold where we're at and try to find something (spur of the moment because I never know who will be missing) that everyone can do instead that is still somewhat educational?  When I do hold, and try and have fun with the students that are there, it never seems like it is enough and the ones missing ALWAYS complain that they missed it - which is not MY fault they were gone.  I don't know, it just gets to a point where the complaining gets to me. 

Well, today was one of those days and in PE (the last class of the day) it REALLY got to me.  I have been busting my butt for over 2 years now to try and teach some sort of fair play and sportsmanship to my students, especially the boys, especially the older boys.  I don't feel like I'm getting through, and today I hit the WALL.  How do you teach fair play and sportsmanship to a culture of boys who are taught, right from birth, that the oldest, strongest, biggest & fastest ALWAYS go first/win/get the best/have the most privileges? AND if someone lower in the "pecking order" has/gets something you want you just take it by any means necessary?  AND if someone lower in the "pecking order" wins or does better, you can always solve that by ganging up on that person and put them back in their place? Any suggestions?  I tried something today that I have never done before, so I will see if it works, but I didn't feel too good about it.  I have always tried to lead/teach by example and make a conscious effort to display good sportsmanship and fair play VERY purposefully so everyone can see, but today I did not do that.  It had an immediate affect, but I am not sure if it will be lasting.  We'll see.  I would love any comments/advice anyone has on how to teach this kind of thing to kids/teenagers who have not been brought up with or taught this before.

TEACH