"Beyond Face Value"by Bob OttoBeyond the surface In contrast, while working in corporate America for six years, I saw that people's facial expressions were quite different. I rarely saw joy or enthusiasm. This lack of seeing hopeful expressions started to drag me down and helped me realize I needed a change and influenced me in my decision to go back to school to be a teacher. I have often wondered why so many people have positive joyful expressions while engaging in athletics. This led me on a journey to discover what a Physical Education facilitator could do to enhance or bring out the joy in students as they participate in sports and fitness activities. Keeping if simple I used to think that in order to motivate or encourage kids, a teacher had to engage in some complex or sophisticated method. But over the years I have found the answer to be as simple as a few sincere words. Lessons from my youth Since the age of five, I played ice hockey. My older brother, Andy, was a very good hockey player and people would always compare me to him. It was common for people to introduce me as Andy's younger brother. People would always tell me how good my brother was. When I was about 15, I had a great hockey coach who pulled me off to the side one day and said, "You know what I think? I think you're going to be better than your brother. In fact, I think you're one of the top one or two players in the United States right now." I remember thinking, "Wow! Someone finally believes that I could be better than my brother, that I could be an exceptional player!" -- from that point on, my game just got better and better. I was the leading scorer on every hockey team I ever played on after that. Those words, which took about 30 seconds for my coach to say, gave me the boost to believe that I could be better than I ever dreamed. To this day, I see that moment as a major turning point in my athletic abilities. A few words Currently, I work as a tennis instructor and regularly see a student struggling with a forehand or some other tennis stroke. For some kids, all I have to do is pull them aside and say, "You can do this! I know you can. All you have to do is change your grip a little. You can really be a great tennis player." And as I say those words I can sometimes see their eyes responding, "I can? I never thought I could be a good tennis player, but if Bob thinks so, maybe I can!" Other times, their response will be a new confidence and eagerness in their facial expressions that I never saw before. And it's not just a joyful expression I see -- many times I'll actually see their game jump to the next level as well. Easy reading So often you can tell what's going on in a student's mind just by reading the expressions on his or her face. I once heard Dr. Phil on the Oprah Winfrey Show say that 90% of all communication is non-verbal. I agree. For example, you will oftentimes see kids faces light up during adventure education activities. During one of my first observations, I can remember watching the kids climb a wall. Not only could I see how much fun they were having, but also how invigorated the climbing made them feel. You could see they were happy to be working together to achieve the goal of climbing the wall. As they accomplished their goal, their self-esteem escalated and radiated as if their faces were saying, "Yes! I can accomplish what seemed to be a difficult task at first! Yes, I am good at something!" It was really great to see these kids self-esteem just take off as they worked together and encouraged each other to accomplish their goals. The list of facial expressions is endless. But what remains is that physical education is fun and fulfilling, and facial expressions are an effective and very important feedback tool for teachers to use in combination with words of affirmation. --------------------- at Northeastern Illinois University. |