I have been coaching soccer for about six years now, ever since I stopped playing at UDM. The ability to coach has always been something that has come easily to me, as I try to envision exactly what the players might be thinking about. I have coached and played at a high level for a while, which has made my expectations quit high. I expect a lot of myself and demand top play from my players.
However, what happens when I am not connecting to some of the players as well as others. I just worked very closely with a junior varsity program that was not at the same level as I would like them to be. Some of the players are not very dedicated and tend to take the easy way out. I found myself allowing them to sit out of drills and fitness exercises when I should have been asking them to work harder and develop new ways to get through to them.
This is the same as in the class. This is the going to be one of my biggest challenges as a teacher. I need to make sure that I am not just catering to the needs of the talented students. I worry that I will relate to the students who are willing to work hard, but I should also be focusing on getting others involved. There will be all types of students that come through my class, all of whom I will need to challenge and engage.
Just like in sports, you can't just focus on the good players and allow the others to fall behind. If you do that, there won't be a team in the future.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
A String and Two Tin Cans
About four years ago, I bought my house on Lake Louise in Ortonville. My wife and I live there now, but for a while it was just me. When I first moved in, some of the neighbors were having trouble properly receiving me as a fellow homeowner and tried to figure out ways to talk bad about me rather than take the time to find out who I was or what I was about. They assumed that because I was young, I was renting the house... which obviously meant that I was going to trash the place, burn couches on my front lawn, have loud parties until 5AM and drive my boat past their no wake zone signs and right through their living rooms.
It took some extreme initial work on my part, but I finally got a chance to speak with most of my neighbors in a one on one scenario. At each point, I tried to find out a little bit about the person. I found that two houses down loves to talk about stocks, 3 houses down will only talk if he is in his garden or doing yard work, and next door will seem as if they are gone for 3 weeks (I won't see them once), but as soon as I have a party, or people come over, they love to come out and take part in whatever we are doing.
And the point.... communication. All it took was for me to start up some sort of conversation with each of these neighbors, and we have been blood brothers ever since. Each student is going to come into class with a bit of a chip on his or her shoulder. This is because we are teachers. It is our job to find a way to communicate with them. Whether it be asking them about other classes, finding out how their game went the night before, or what they want to be when they grow up (if they ever do). Once we have that open line of communication, we will be more effective teachers. It is also our job to develop various forms of communication. When I first heard about the teacher who holds office hours over instant messaging I thought it was a little weird. However, that chat might be the best way that a child can ask his or her question. It may allow them to open up and receive help that they have been too afraid to verbally ask for. So please, identify a specific way to get through to each of your students and I am sure they will love you for it.
And on a side note, just last week we had our lake association meeting, and all of my neighbors asked me if I would run for office. How things have changed with just a few conversations and interest in others.
It took some extreme initial work on my part, but I finally got a chance to speak with most of my neighbors in a one on one scenario. At each point, I tried to find out a little bit about the person. I found that two houses down loves to talk about stocks, 3 houses down will only talk if he is in his garden or doing yard work, and next door will seem as if they are gone for 3 weeks (I won't see them once), but as soon as I have a party, or people come over, they love to come out and take part in whatever we are doing.
And the point.... communication. All it took was for me to start up some sort of conversation with each of these neighbors, and we have been blood brothers ever since. Each student is going to come into class with a bit of a chip on his or her shoulder. This is because we are teachers. It is our job to find a way to communicate with them. Whether it be asking them about other classes, finding out how their game went the night before, or what they want to be when they grow up (if they ever do). Once we have that open line of communication, we will be more effective teachers. It is also our job to develop various forms of communication. When I first heard about the teacher who holds office hours over instant messaging I thought it was a little weird. However, that chat might be the best way that a child can ask his or her question. It may allow them to open up and receive help that they have been too afraid to verbally ask for. So please, identify a specific way to get through to each of your students and I am sure they will love you for it.
And on a side note, just last week we had our lake association meeting, and all of my neighbors asked me if I would run for office. How things have changed with just a few conversations and interest in others.
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