May 21, 2014-Capture the Flag

On Wednesday May 21, since our gym class was smaller this time, we had the option to join Mr. Pederson's and Mr. Vaughan's class to play a big Capture the Flag game. The weather was really nice so I was glad we were able to do an activity outdoors. Karen, Simran and I joined Mr. Vaughan's team in Capture the Flag. It was nice to join another class because this allowed me to meet new people and get a feel of how Mr. Vaughan's class is run. Mr. Vaughan's class is just as energetic and enthusiastic as our class, which is great because it allowed everyone to have a positive attitude for the whole gym block.  I've mentioned in other blog posts that I'm able to keep on improving every time we play an activity. While reflecting on today's gym block, I've made my biggest improvements in Capture the Flag  from the time I played it today. When we played Capture the Flag last week I was able to run to the other side and back without getting tagged, but I  unable to bring back a football. When we played Capture the Flag this time, I brought a football back and a frisbee back. So I ran there and back while bringing a football or frisbee to my team, two times! From all the times we have played Capture the Flag, I have never brought back a frisbee or football because I was always to shy to run to the other side so I played it safe and stayed on my side. However, by bringing the frisbee/football to my team, it gained my confidence and made myself very proud. When I brought the football back to my territory, I decided to go again because the worst that can happen is that I get tagged and I have to run around the safe. In the beginning of the gym block, Mr. Vaughan told us to take risks and so this is exactly why I decided to go to the other side again to try to bring back another football. I ended up coming back with a frisbee which was good news for me! Not only did I bring back two items to my team but I also ran four more times to the other side, but I got tagged while doing so. I don't think getting tagged was a very big deal because the "punishment" of running was considered to be a benefit to me as you are getting more exercise in this way.  At the end of the game, I took the initiative and ran to the end of the field to help out with cleanup. It didn't feel right for me to just leave without putting the equipment away. Even though my legs were already tired from the game, I still put in the extra effort and ran to pick up the cones. I don't think I would of done this leadership in September as I was not as outgoing then. The only thing that I disliked in the game was when people continued to run after they got tagged. For example, I tagged a person while he was running to my territory and he knew he got tagged but carried on running. Karen also noticed people were cheating too. Even though a few students were cheating it wasn't going to bring the game down for me. Out of all the Capture the Flag games that I have played this year, this one made me the most tired at the end which could be because I noticed that I ran even more this time. Going up the stairs to my fourth block class was hard because my legs were burning as I was going up, which tells me that my participation was definitely maximized in the block. My face was also very red and continued to be red after gym class. In brief, improving is such an important aspect of gym and I'm glad I am able to identify things I need to work on and then take the action to get better at them!