My latest project...a martial arts class in school!

[Makalakumu]

I work at an alternative high school that serves at risk youth, and it has always been my dream to get a MA club going there. I tried after school and there were many issues...transportation, stability, planning, lack of time, and school priorities...ei the bigger schools needed our gym to house their bloated basketball programs.

I fought the battle for four years. I worked closely with kids, parents and administration, but ultimately, the powerlessness and poverty that these kids experience (temporarily) won the day.

Until today. My principal agreed to a schedule of team teaching and I paired myself with the gym teacher who is totally in cahoots with my plans. Finally, I'm going to be teaching a martial arts class in school. Moreover, it will occur during school hours, vitually eliminating the problems that we faced getting this off the ground.

I feel elated that I'm finally able to get this going...after so long. And the prospect of having a group of students that will teach one period a day, every day of the week, is extremely exciting. And daunting. Actually teaching this class is going to be a challenge and its going to take some serious planning on my part...but the good news is that I'm doing it.

I just wanted to share that with everyone...

upnorthkyosa

 

[Flying Crane]

I work at an alternative high school that serves at risk youth, and it has always been my dream to get a MA club going there. I tried after school and there were many issues...transportation, stability, planning, lack of time, and school priorities...ei the bigger schools needed our gym to house their bloated basketball programs.

I fought the battle for four years. I worked closely with kids, parents and administration, but ultimately, the powerlessness and poverty that these kids experience (temporarily) won the day.

Until today. My principal agreed to a schedule of team teaching and I paired myself with the gym teacher who is totally in cahoots with my plans. Finally, I'm going to be teaching a martial arts class in school. Moreover, it will occur during school hours, vitually eliminating the problems that we faced getting this off the ground.

I feel elated that I'm finally able to get this going...after so long. And the prospect of having a group of students that will teach one period a day, every day of the week, is extremely exciting. And daunting. Actually teaching this class is going to be a challenge and its going to take some serious planning on my part...but the good news is that I'm doing it.

I just wanted to share that with everyone...

upnorthkyosa

excellent. congratulations, this is worthwhile work.

 

[arnisador]

That's great! Perseverance pays off. Good luck!

Will you be teaching a traditional TSD program, or a more eclectic mix, or what?

 

[BlueDragon1981]

Good Job ... and Good Luck.

Gives me hope to teach it in school one day.

 

[Makalakumu]

Will you be teaching a traditional TSD program, or a more eclectic mix, or what?

I want to give my students an authentic Tang Soo Do class, complete with all of the ettiquete and ceremony. I want to find a way to get these kids some uniforms and my hope is to turn that class period into a dojang.

 

[terryl965]

I want to give my students an authentic Tang Soo Do class, complete with all of the ettiquete and ceremony. I want to find a way to get these kids some uniforms and my hope is to turn that class period into a dojang.

Very excellent indeed,try some of the Martial Art Stores in your area and explain what is going on, most will help with uniforms if the case is like yours.

Terry

 

[AdrenalineJunky]

I work at an alternative high school that serves at risk youth, and it has always been my dream to get a MA club going there.
upnorthkyosa

Congrats! Out of curiosity, what does "at risk youth" mean. If it means that they are "troubled" in some fashion, teaching them how to beat people may not be the best thing to do.

Just a thought. Otherwise, good luck, I really enjoy helping other people learn about Muay Thai; getting paid to do it would be awesome!

 

[MJS]

I work at an alternative high school that serves at risk youth, and it has always been my dream to get a MA club going there. I tried after school and there were many issues...transportation, stability, planning, lack of time, and school priorities...ei the bigger schools needed our gym to house their bloated basketball programs.

I fought the battle for four years. I worked closely with kids, parents and administration, but ultimately, the powerlessness and poverty that these kids experience (temporarily) won the day.

Until today. My principal agreed to a schedule of team teaching and I paired myself with the gym teacher who is totally in cahoots with my plans. Finally, I'm going to be teaching a martial arts class in school. Moreover, it will occur during school hours, vitually eliminating the problems that we faced getting this off the ground.

I feel elated that I'm finally able to get this going...after so long. And the prospect of having a group of students that will teach one period a day, every day of the week, is extremely exciting. And daunting. Actually teaching this class is going to be a challenge and its going to take some serious planning on my part...but the good news is that I'm doing it.

I just wanted to share that with everyone...

upnorthkyosa

Thats Awesome!! Congrats!!!! Its good to see things like this that will be a positive influence on the kids!!

Best of luck to you on the program!

Mike

 

[CrankyDragon]

1 hour class period? Your looking to do a lot in a short time frame. You have my support and encouragment!

Andrew

 

[MJS]

1 hour class period? Your looking to do a lot in a short time frame. You have my support and encouragment!

Andrew

Most kids classes that I've seen are anywhere from 30-45 min depending on the age group. IMO, I think that 1 hr. is a workable time considering the number of kids that could be in the class. Also, considering many of those kids may not a previous MA background, that extra time will come in handy when trying to teach them the basics.

Mike

 

[Drac]

Outstanding!!! The best of luck to you..

 

[Shaolinwind]

I work at an alternative high school that serves at risk youth, and it has always been my dream to get a MA club going there. I tried after school and there were many issues...transportation, stability, planning, lack of time, and school priorities...ei the bigger schools needed our gym to house their bloated basketball programs.

I fought the battle for four years. I worked closely with kids, parents and administration, but ultimately, the powerlessness and poverty that these kids experience (temporarily) won the day.

Until today. My principal agreed to a schedule of team teaching and I paired myself with the gym teacher who is totally in cahoots with my plans. Finally, I'm going to be teaching a martial arts class in school. Moreover, it will occur during school hours, vitually eliminating the problems that we faced getting this off the ground.

I feel elated that I'm finally able to get this going...after so long. And the prospect of having a group of students that will teach one period a day, every day of the week, is extremely exciting. And daunting. Actually teaching this class is going to be a challenge and its going to take some serious planning on my part...but the good news is that I'm doing it.

I just wanted to share that with everyone...

upnorthkyosa

I love it! Achievement after years of hard work. You're the man.

 

[Lisa]

Congrats Upnorth! Way to go!

 

[Navarre]

Congratulations! You have a chance to make a real difference here.

I think a 1 hr time period is quite acceptable. This will be especially true with kids who may not be used to focusing for long periods of time.

In fact I think a measure of your success will be when the 1 hr is up and they are disappointed, eager for more. This reaction will also give you an opportunity to instill such concepts as appreciating the moment, patience, and perseverance.

The donning of uniforms creates a sense of belonging to something greater than yourself. This can either be used right away to try and build solidarity or a uniform can be given early and in front of the whole class as a reward for initial efforts.

I wouldn't worry about then using their skills outside of class any more than I would other people. You will almost certainly have someone who does at some point. That is when it is imperative that this person's actions be brought to the class's attention and the student disciplined or removed (as a last resort).

All action has consequences. They should understand that negative action will not be tolerated because it damages the harmony of the whole. I would only suggest spending a lot of time initially in developing the body and focusing the mind before jumping into all the cool techniques we'd like to teach.

Early on in my teaching, I made the mistake of letting students goad me into diverting from what they needed to be taught. They would ask me about certain situations and I was quick to show the best techniques I knew to deal with the attack.

I thought at that time I was helping them see where it could all lead but the truth is they didn't need hour long demonstrations of my ability. They needed to be building the foundation for such skills themselves through hard work, discipline, focus, and (not to be forgotten) fun.

So, have fun, work hard, always keep in mind your goals (both for the hour and long-term) and help these students find their way. I'm very excited for you. Best of luck!

 

[Brother John]

I also work with teens, but the ones I work with have been adjudicated and are in a "Placement"....doing martial arts with them would probably be a dire liability. But I'm exceedingly glad to hear about your circumstance.

could you help me (us) understand what you mean by "at risk"?? It means different things in different places.
thanks


Your Brother
John

 

[Makalakumu]

"At-Risk" in this case means that the children that I teach are engaging in behaviors that put them at risk of graduating. I have adjudicated youth in my classroom. I have sex offenders. I have drug addicts. I have kids who just don't fit in. I have homeless kids. I have kids who have been abused, physically emotionally, and sexually. My class wouldn't be for everyone at my school...and from my experience, the really violent kids aren't interested in traditional martial arts anyway. They say it ruins them as fighters...until I go up to the boxing gym across the street and put on the gloves. My point is that the kids one doesn't want in a MA class are just not interested.

The kids that I'm focusng on with this program are kids who are very poor and they've hardly been out of their neighborhoods, much less the city, but they know how to work hard and that makes a huge difference. These kids come from a background of generational poverty. I'll have a pretty diverse class...latinos, native americans, african americans and some white kids. I expect the "something for nothing" crowd will shy away from my class because I'm going to be very up front about my expectations. I don't want to compromise the quality of my teaching for quantity of students.

Part of this deal included planning a bunch of other classes that would be team taught by other teachers. The social studies and math teacher are teaming up. They will be looking at social measurement issues and statistics will be a heavy focus. The english and art teachers are teaming up to look at and interpret various forms of art. The science teacher (me) and the physical education teacher are teaming up to do this MA class. I figure that I can get tons of physics and anatomy into this elective.

One of the biggest challenges I'm going to have is assessment. I've got to come up with some sort of concrete tool that I can use to measure the student's progress. I've got to come up with some sort of rubric that will place this progress on an ABCDF scale. I'm not sure how to norm my instruments because there certainly isn't much data available on anyone else doing something like this. I'll post whatever I come up with...

upnorthkyosa

 

[Flying Crane]

That is the tough part. Maybe it can be some kind of mixture of learning the material and their effort and commitment to the process. Some might have had a bigger struggle to learn, but they really worked at it, while others might have picked it up more easily, but didn't really put their heart and soul into it. Maybe the former deserves a higher letter grade than the latter, and this could be different from any belt rankings that you may give.

 

[Makalakumu]

Here is a list of the requirements that I use at my dojang. I would like to be abe to keep these lists and tests kids for belts if they put in the time, but also be able to mark their progress throughout the semester. The students won't get into any of the intermediate or advanced material, so really the white and maybe green belt lists are the only ones I'm focusing on.

 

[Brother John]

Thats quite a list!! There's a lot too it, I see some Japanese/Chinese Korean and Philipino influences. Very cool.

How far into this list do you anticipate going? For instance, do you intend to go really far into the Kyusho? Seems that could be kinda dangerous..
just wondering.

Your Brother
John

 

[kenpo0324]

Congratulations, That is teriffic news.
I hope everything works out for you and everyone involed.:asian: