My ears itch a lot.

Sunburn?

"Desperately need a nap" isn't a valid excuse for going home sick, right?

However, I HATED HATED HATED it when it was a compulsory activity at school. It was awful then.

The thing is, there are a lot of gym sports that one can hate for various reasons. My gym teacher for my first three years of high school was the wrestling coach, so every year we wrestled for a couple of weeks. Not a lot of fun when you're one of the smaller kids in the class. There are also sports like basketball, where the good players can completely ignore the kids on the floor who were completely clueless about the sport, as I was. At least in dodgeball they'd actually throw the ball my way, even if there was a different motive. It really does depend on who is running the class.

msbelle, maybe this guide to imposition will help?

DX, you can't be saying that classes are as dependent on the instructor as on the material, can you?

I'm saying that a good instructor is better than a bad instructor. Doesn't just apply to gym.

I'm saying that a good instructor is better than a bad instructor. Doesn't just apply to gym.

Except, how does that fit in with the fact that those who can't teach, teach gym?

It really does depend on who is running the class.

Miss Cross's* playground technique was to pick the two loudest-mouth kids. They were the team captains. Then everyone would line up against a wall and they'd take turns picking team members. Disparaging comments were not discouraged ("But I don't want the fat/slow/foureyes/stupid one!") It really wasn't pleasant. I don't think competition should be discouraged or that it has to be all touchy feely -must-cosset-the-pwecious-egos. But what we had was an extreme and a not very healthy one at that. And it did turn me off (in my youth) a lot of stuff.

But hey, it also taught me how to brutalize little souls, so score.

* that wasn't her name, that's what we called her behind her back. I don't recall her real name.

I just can't see that dodgeball teaches any useful skills, other than How To Play Dodgeball. I always had good gym teachers, and I was never really all that picked on, I just think it's a pointlessly stupid game.

read the EWWWWW and should not have.

I think dodge ball with nerf balls might even be fun. I didn't hate it - but I was sort of a nonentity. Not many people knew me well, but no one hated me either. I usually tried to get out early.

I really wish gym could have been more fun for the nonathletic. Because I have to fight my "i'm not good at that so why should I do that" urges all the time.

It was 'kill the carrier' where I grew up. The way Robin descibes it, I might have had fun. I would have run around a lot and gotten in the way a lot . I foiund when I was playing soccer that - interference was something I was good at. Strong kick too, just no aim at all.