To set the scene, we were in our last week of volleyball in a 4th grade physical education class. The students have been learning skills such as the bump and set passes and the underhand serve. This week we were putting everything together and had a modified game of volleyball. The following account is between two students who saw one event in two different perspectives.
I saw student #1 crying as her team went off the court. I went over to see what was wrong. She was upset because, in her opinion, her team was making fun of her because she was not good at volleyball. I told that she was doing a good job and that everyone had different levels of skills based on their experiences. I told her that I would speak to the class as a whole to make sure that we weren't putting any of our team mates down. I told her to keep trying her best and that if she kept practicing she would get the hang of it. She smiled and said ok.
Before talking to the whole class, I went to talk to one of the classes DREAM (how our school recognizes students for being a model student) student about what happened. She said that her team was just giving her a few pointers to help her serve the ball over the net. They weren't trying to be mean about it, they were only trying to help.
I saw student #1 crying as her team went off the court. I went over to see what was wrong. She was upset because, in her opinion, her team was making fun of her because she was not good at volleyball. I told that she was doing a good job and that everyone had different levels of skills based on their experiences. I told her that I would speak to the class as a whole to make sure that we weren't putting any of our team mates down. I told her to keep trying her best and that if she kept practicing she would get the hang of it. She smiled and said ok.
Before talking to the whole class, I went to talk to one of the classes DREAM (how our school recognizes students for being a model student) student about what happened. She said that her team was just giving her a few pointers to help her serve the ball over the net. They weren't trying to be mean about it, they were only trying to help.
In this module, we learned about empathy. That is being able to feel what someone else is feeling. In the situation mentioned above, I felt empathy for both students. How many times have you tried to help someone but then they just turned around and felt resentment towards you? You had good intentions and didn't mean to insult them but to them, that's how it came across. That is what student #2 is feeling.
At the same time, if you are struggling with something and someone steps in and helps you without asking, how upset would you be? I'm a very stubborn person and will try to figure something out all night before I give up. The longer it takes the more frustrated I would get and might lose my temper. Having someone showing me how to do something would make me feel inadequate. This is how student #1 felt when she was not able to serve the volleyball over the net.
At the same time, if you are struggling with something and someone steps in and helps you without asking, how upset would you be? I'm a very stubborn person and will try to figure something out all night before I give up. The longer it takes the more frustrated I would get and might lose my temper. Having someone showing me how to do something would make me feel inadequate. This is how student #1 felt when she was not able to serve the volleyball over the net.