IP Capstone Passion Project
Winter Semester 2022
Title: Annual Spring Basketball Event Name: Anfernee Niones 160482
Topic: Building relationships with the community and students through sports.
Essential Questions:
Why use sports as a way to connect with students and the community?
Since the global pandemic affected how schools operated, would the event or project help mitigate that problem?
If the project ends up being a success, what other sports would you like to add?
What is your goal?
My main goal for this project is to reach the students and the community beyond the classroom. In other words, I would like to use this platform or project to reach out and connect to students and continue to build an everlasting relationship with them outside of the classroom. I hope that I can teach my future students the same values I learned from playing the game I truly love, and it will only be possible by connecting the school and the community.
Why is it important?
In the near future, I want to become an educator that can help students and hopefully be remembered as a teacher that made a difference inside and outside the classroom. My teaching philosophy is building meaningful and valid relationships with my students because I believe that is necessary when it comes to this profession. I acknowledge that I can only achieve this by conducting my project, the “Annual Spring Opener Event.” My project is supposed to create and build everlasting relationships with students by playing the game of basketball. Why basketball? I chose this sport because it taught me significant values such as respect, teamwork, determination, discipline, and failure. These values shaped me to become the person I am today, and I hope to share this with my future students and the community.
My project is important because I would like this platform to help reach out to my future students and the community. The “Annual Spring Opener Event” will bring the school and the neighbourhood together and work as one unit. The main reason for this event is that I learned during a global pandemic that the students missed the idea of competing and playing sports. I hope that this event can bring back the feeling of competing and a sense of belonging. Conducting this project will help students connect with other students from other schools.
What steps will you take to answer the question?
Why use sports as a way to connect with students and the community?
Sports is a great way to connect with people. From my experience, I used Basketball to make new friends at a new school. It is easier to build connections with other people if you have something in common. So to build those relationships, we will use this sporting event as a place to do that.
Since the global pandemic affected how schools operated, would the event or project help mitigate that problem?
Everything changed when COVID-19 happened. Kids of all ages couldn’t do a physical activity because of restrictions. Since we are getting closer to getting back to the norm, I hope this project will motivate students to get back into it and give them a safe space to play sports.
If the project ends up being a success, what other sports would you like to add?
If the project works, I would like to add various sports like Badminton, Soccer, etc. At the end of the day, the most important goal is that the students can create connections with other students and teach them values that they can use inside and outside of the classroom.
What I have done and what have I learned?
Research #1: Research about the different skills
Date: 01/31/2022
Before conducting this project, I have researched the different skills sports teach us that we take into other areas of life to back my argument about sports teaching us different values. According to the Inspire Sport website, "playing a sport, interacting with others, and being part of a team enables people to develop numerous skills. These skills are essential skills that are important throughout our lives". The quotation is quite significant because it is a fact. From my experience playing sports like Basketball and Badminton, I learned how to socialize, understand the value of teamwork, and that it is necessary to become resilient even though failure could happen. Sport teaches human development. It teaches us the meaning of being resilient, understanding leadership, and accountability. These lessons hopefully can develop them as players and good people of society.
Research #2: Interviewing a friend and reminiscing past experiences to learn new information
Date: 02/10/2022
Looking back at the time when I had just moved to Canada, it was difficult for me to fit in. During that time, my English speaking skills were not the greatest. I could speak it, but my accent hindered me from speaking confidently. My best asset during that time was that I was very energetic, and I loved playing sports. I used Basketball and Badminton as a way of communicating and connecting with people, and believe me or not I made friends even though I was from a different culture. Surprisingly, my friend felt the same way and quite similar to my own story.
When I interviewed my friend on his point of view on the value of playing sports, we had similar views on why it is necessary to use sports as a way of creating relationships. He states that "It is easier to connect with people from different backgrounds when you have something in common."
By looking at the quotation, it provides evidence that sports had a positive impact on his life. It shows that using the game of basketball as a form of connecting with other people made the moving and settling down a new country transition easier. It is crazy to think that me and my friend had similar views on this topic. You could also argue that we became better friends because we loved playing the game together as a team.
Research #3: “How playing sports benefits your body and your Brain”
Date: 02/15/2022
By watching the YouTube video How playing sports benefits your body and your brain, I learned the different mental and physical benefits and other benefits that go beyond it. "Playing a team sport can teach people how to trust, make it easier to establish a regular habit of exercise, and it will be more fun than exercising alone." This quotation provides evidence that playing a team sport can help students feel like they belong, and it will help them make connections. The video also mentions a study where school sports help reduce the risk of suffering from depression for up to four years. This information stood out because this is something that needs to get mentioned more in schools. I hope to share new-found information with my future students and with the community.
Research #4: Interviewing my past students from my first placement that I coached for Basketball asking them about their views on not playing sports during a global pandemic.
Date: 02/18/2022
“School sports is a great way to bond with people that you don’t talk outside of the sport”
COVID-19 certainly changed the norm and our society’s lifestyle. The global pandemic has affected different establishments, primarily schools. In this research, I have asked my past students from my first school placement, where I had the privilege to coach them for basketball. I asked them, was it difficult not to play sports? One of them said, “It was hard because there were not a lot of things to do.” This statement is very significant because it proves that students missed that feeling of playing with their friends. In short, school sports are necessary to create a thriving environment.
How will you take action to make a difference on this issue?
Share and talk about real-life examples that teach the students different values that they will use inside and outside the basketball court.
Start a fundraiser to raise money for new gym equipment or use the event to start a new project.
Share to the students the YouTube video, How playing sports benefits your body and your brain, orient the students about the different benefits of playing a sport.
Do a free basketball workshop where they will learn and master various skills like dribbling, shooting, and passing.
Make the Annual Spring event inclusive everyone is welcome to join.
What have you learned from engaging in this project?
My goal for this project is to make a difference in the school and community. I hope to raise awareness and aspire students to join this event to build connections with other students and feel that they belong in a positive community. I have learned that there is a lot of community effort in curating a sporting event for the whole school and neighbourhood. Researching new information and using past experiences to create an inclusive and diverse environment is necessary I learned how to plan better for future projects and set goals outside of the classroom. Setting goals means that I will work at them and achieve them.
This project has helped me become more dedicated to learning and making connections outside of the classroom environment. Connecting back to my goal for this project, I would like to use this platform or project to reach out and connect to students and continue to build an everlasting relationship with them outside of the classroom. I hope that I can teach my future students the same values I learned from playing the game I truly love, and it will only be possible by connecting the school and the community. Combining teaching with significant values and past experiences will improve my teaching practice. And I hope to become a teacher who is remembered for making a difference inside and outside the classroom.
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