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Bag of Tricks

I was introduced to the concept of Adventure Education roughly 3 years ago, while studying Physical Education  at Northeastern Illinois University. When I took my first class, I was skeptical about whether I would ever use  it or not. I enjoyed the activities while they were introduced to me, however I didn't understand how I could  use it then in my classes as a teacher. But as the years went on, and the Adventure Education classes piled up, my  view of Adventure Education changed. Luckily for me, during these classes, I had several opportunities to  introduce Adventure Education to many people who were not familiar with it.

The first time I realized the impact it had on people was when my class facilitated a program for an inner city  high school. When the students came in, they walked in with faces which told a story of "Why am I here? Can I  leave?" As these activities are challenge by choice, many of them decided not to participate and sat against  the bleachers. Those who did participate were introduced to a bunch of non-traditional games. During the  session with them, they were laughing, smiling, and communicating with people who they usually would not have  communicated with. They forgot about race, religion, economic style, and all the other characteristics that people  are judged on as they saw each other as one. By the end of the session not one kid was still sitting in the  bleachers. Everyone was participating and having fun. When the program was over, the story of "Why am I here?  Can I leave?" changed to "Why do I have to leave? Can I stay?"

You might be asking yourself, "This is interesting, but can I use this in my gym class?" Currently, I am  student teaching at a high school in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago. The gym classes during this recent  term were given the opportunity to go to a sports complex to participate in physical activities, and I was in  charge of those who did not go. After periods of repeated basketball and volleyball games, students started to  become bored and were asking if they could do something else. The following day I brought in my "bag of  tricks", a bag that has everyday household items that can be used for Adventure Education activities. Once I  introduced the bag to my class, they asked if I could bring it to class for the remaining 3 days of the term.  Over the 3 days, I introduced activities such as channels, turnstile, it's a what, crossed or uncrossed, and  can pass, to name a few. During each activity each student had a smile on their face, laughing, cheering, and  never giving up on an activity.

Whenever facilitating Adventure Education activities, I never see anyone not enjoying themselves or the other  people who are participating with them. They always seem to enjoy themselves and their peers. I have  facilitated programs for middle schools, high schools, college students, as well as at the state physical  education conference, and at each of these levels the result is the same: having fun, laughing, and smiling.  But as they have fun, laugh, and smile, they are also building self-esteem, communicating, problem solving, and  teamworking. This is what Adventure Education is all about: It builds the important characteristics for being  successful in life, but most importantly, it builds the important characteristics for being successful to  themselves.

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Kyle is an undergraduate Physical Education major at Northeastern Illinois University. He was student teaching  at Mundelein High School from January 2004 to April 2004.