Concussions+and+High+School+Sports

= Jim Shoesmith Teacher/Coach = = = = Email me =

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==== As a high school student my favorite and most dedicated activity was football. It was something that began in June right after the school year ended and ended in October, so I devoted a lot of time and energy to it. Aside from the excitement of hitting other people and playing in front of the big crowds, I also enjoyed being around my teammates and friends. However there has been some debate across the country of whether or not contact football should be permitted due to recent studies and cases of athletes with concussions. That is why I think parents and students need to be educated on the issue of concussions and football. ====

==== Because I will have many that participate in high school athletics I think that a majority of the students will enjoy writing and researching this topic of sports and the question of whether or not we should cut football, in which some people deem unsafe for student athletes. As for the students who do not participate in athletics, I can sell interest from the angle that this topic at question involves policy, economics, and student liability and there will even be aspects of science involved. media type="youtube" key="fFkWTGKNLT8?feature=player_detailpage" height="288" width="512" align="right" ====

==== I believe this activity could be adjusted for any grade level but I think it would be most efficient for a senior level classroom. At this grade level the students should have developed analyzing and synthesizing skills. I will aim this event towards students who are generally considered lower middle class because that is the socioeconomic situation I am most familiar with and have worked with most of my professional career. Students and school systems in this type of socioeconomic situation typically lack access to technology both at home and in the classroom. I know through my experience in working with students that many of them do not even have internet at home, which can be hard to believe in this day and age. ====

==== There will be numerous roles that students will need to fill in order provide well rounded information and opportunities for students to find an area of interest. Perhaps the simplest role for a student to act as is that of an athlete, for this event there will be a fully healthy student athlete, a student athlete with a history of minor concussions, and I will have one student play a professional athlete that has suffered severe symptoms as a result of concussions. The goal of these roles will to provide the emotions and feelings of those who the event impacts directly. ====

==== Other identities in this event would be available to provide opinions and scientific information about sports and concussions. Three identities would be that of a neurologist and an athletic trainer and a sports medicine specialist. I think these roles would provide opportunities for students to study their interest in the field of medicine and science. Depending on class size, I would ideally like to have at least three neurologists or brain experts that would provide scientific research and analysis. I think one high school athletic trainer, one professional athletic trainer and a sports medicine specialist would provide perspectives on the education of concussions as it relates to the people who work hands on with student athletes. These identities would be more data driven than other identities. ====

==== It would be critical to have some parents and coaches in this event as well to provide more of a semimetal, what’s best for their children perspective. This identity would allow for at least five different parents and would provide a wide range of opinions for the activity. Coaches would obviously be in favor of keeping status quo in relation to rules involving sports but I would ask anybody who takes up this identity to provide techniques or methods in which they promote student athlete safety and education. ====

==== I would have one person act as a high school athletic director in order to provide the perspective of a person who has to weigh all the factors involved with sports and make decisions. Athletic directors also provide guidelines for coaches to ensure coaches are following state codes and are not liabilities for the school district. If the class size is large I could also create a principal role that would require to provide analysis on student welfare and how the issue of concussions and sports could affect the school culture. ====

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One legislative/elected official would be appropriate for an identity as they could provide the class with a sense of what policy has be enacted or what precedents have been set in regards to student safety in recreational activities. Complementarily, another identity would be that of a lawyer. Currently there are some lawsuits and pending legal action taken against the National Football League (NFL) about concussions. Former players are suing the NFL stating that the league did not educate or take the proper steps to ensure player safety during their career; millions of dollars are at stake in these lawsuits. A student filling the lawyer identity could synthesize the possible ramifications and liabilities involved with sports to provide guidance to the athletic trainers, parents, coaches and school administrators. Students will do research and create a recommendation based off their identity. This activity will require them to interview other roles to gather information about the other identities’ research. For example, the athletic director will interview athletes, parents and possibly the lawyer to come up with a set of standards to present to the coaches who work in that athletic director’s district. Another example would be the legislator who would discuss the matter with the sports medicine specialist, the neurologist, professional athlete and school official to determine if the government needs to investigate the matter more in depth.

==== Majority of the literature the students will read will be scholarly articles and interviews. I would be sure to provide technology for the students so they have the most potential resources available to them. With the literature presented to them the students will be required to write comparison papers about two conflicting ideas and following that they will write persuasive essays arguing for what they think should be done in terms of head injuries and sports at the high school level. To include technology into the activity I would have the students create a question regarding the topic on either Facebook, Twitter, Blogger or any website of their choice that allows other people to post responses, after gathering responses for a set time period students would report on the data and include it in their persuasive essay. ====

==== The students will have a chance to present their recommendation to the class that will lead to a discussion on the future of student safety in sports. I will present to them how the subject of safety in football was talked about in the 1920’s after several deaths in the sport and the changes that followed that discussion. The point of this discussion will be to discuss what changes can be implemented in high schools today to ensure student safety on the athletic platforms. Discussion could lead to students reaching conclusion of elimination of sports that are considered high risk for head and brain damage. ====

==== As a follow up activity students will write a short letter describing how they learned about information and how their research allowed them to reach a conclusion. I will discuss with them that the process they undertook is very similar to the process that many administrators, business leaders and government officials take when a topic arises that impacts a large number of people. In the short letter students will be asked if they learned something new, what research strategies worked well for them and to what degree they were interested in this activity. ====

==== Several Common Core State Standards will be addressed with this classroom activity. In the beginning of the activity students will cover the Reading standards Integration of Knowledge and Ideas section for grades 11 and 12. They will meet these standards by searching on the internet multiple articles and websites that will help them reach a decision on what needs to happen with concussions and sports. Because students will be constructing recommendations they will also cover Key Ideas and Details standard number one, which states the students cite strong and thorough textual evidence. ====

==== For the Writing standards students will be constructing arguments in which they offer a recommendation for what should be done with sports in order to promote student athlete safety. This will cover section E of 6-12 Writing standards number 1. The emphasis of this project will be for the students to research and synthesize their thoughts into a reasonable, realistic recommendation that could lead to safer sports. ====

==== I will provide ample amount of opportunities for the students to work with computers and other technology so I will expect them to be creative and clear in their presentations of their recommendations to the classroom, especially of those students playing the role of a specialist. This will cover standards 4 and 5 of the Speaking and Listening standards grades 6-12. ====

==== Overall I think this activity will allow students to demonstrate a wide range of skills and provide them a topic that will affect many of them directly. I expect this could be done over a three day period and could easily be adapted for any grade level. ====

Additional Resources Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC-Additional Resources Nationwide Children's Definition of Concussion NCAA Webpage for Concussions [|National Federation of High Schools Concussion Webpage] NFL Sideline Concussion Test