On twitter and elsewhere, there has been much talk about we need to do to fix our situation in the world of education. Everyone seems to have the silver bullet to
save our children. I agree that we
cannot keep losing children, but I almost wonder if we are mentally defeating
ourselves by constantly focusing on outcomes.
They almost are never what we were hoping they would be. In fact, for all we know they may be unrealistic. I think overall I don’t care what the scores
are anymore.
When I coach soccer I don’t care about wins or loses any
more. I used to care about my record
more than what skills were being taught.
When I switched my mentality to caring about giving the athletes skills
and reminding myself that the players results were a result of the training I
provided them. This past year I focused
on training, reminding them that winning is a choice, talking about mindset, how
to make themselves feel better about being men in our current world, and the
power of body language. In the most intense games the ones who choose
to be successful are and the ones who are hoping to win never do. This year we choose to put in the work and it
really showed.
We did not have the best record around, but every game we
played we lost was decided by 1 goal. We
went head to head with ranked programs, fought our way through the season,
until we finally took a team that was 4-2 and had been bullying other teams in the
county and soundly defeated them 2-0. We
made a choice and succeeded together.
This past year I received letters in my email thanking me for the job I
did from my players. Someone else
brought me a bottle of HP sauce referring to a pep talk I made when talking
about high pressure play. To me this was
what success looked like and all it really took was changing MY attitude.
I didn’t change anything else. I chose to look for ways to help the boys
improve. I provided the games, the environment,
and the leadership. I looked at myself
as an ambassador for the game. I was not
going to be the coach the sucked the fun out of it all. I wanted to share with them a little piece of
what manhood could look like. I wanted
to show them that being a man is ok. I
wanted to show them that success is something that has to be cultivated. I wanted to help capture the feeling I had
being on the soccer field when I was 8 years old. When it was about the joy of being a part of
the game and not looking for certain results.
The final team dinner where everyone was talking so loudly in the pizza
shop we were put in our own section showed me that I had achieved all of my
goals and I smiled.
This year, I have begun to try to put this mindset to work
in my classroom. I care about the growth
of my students. I used to worry about my
job. In one school in the past, I
rightfully needed to and was formed within the crucible of that classroom. But this year I had a sort of calm descend
over me. There is nothing I can do to
stop the politicians from playing games with my life. There is nothing I can do about the newest trend
except give it a try and if it fails try something else. I
realize grades are a part of schooling, but I don’t fret about them as much as
a used to. If you do your job well the
students will do well. No test can show
you how the relationships you have forged with the students you teach will
impact them down the road. I still think
about some of my teachers and I know some of my students will always think of
me.
I suppose I am not
the best at everything in teaching, but I try every day. I often have to remind myself to find the
joy. I can be a negative or realistic person,
which I guess comes from my upbringing.
Lately I have begun recording my victories and accomplishments from the day
so I could find the joy. Over the last
few days I have had like fifteen accomplishments or joyful moments each day. My life isn’t horrible. Even if the current state of affairs in my
profession feels like it is tearing itself apart.
I am really lucky to be in the classroom and on the soccer
field. Both have taught me much about
life and how to deal with people. So
many people I went to school with did not end up in the classroom and are now
doing something else. I made it.
I am here teaching the youth of America. I made kids smile all day. I helped them grow even when they didn’t want
to or though they could. I gave them hope in a world that is obsessed with hopelessness. I told them that success is a choice they
have to make for themselves even when everyone else told them to give up and
accept their lot in life. I was given a
chance to change their lives and develop them into functional human
beings. That is why I became a
teacher. To help people push past
boundaries and help them succeed.
I suppose this post is littered with too many clichés, but
they have helped me frame my own world.
Life is so much more than getting a college degree. We have to be constantly growing or we will
be dissatisfied. I have put in the effort
to understand myself lately and I think it is helping me in the classroom and
on the soccer field. I hope that I can
be the example for these kids.
I am sure everyone was thinking this was going to be pretty
negative post, but I think it is a rather positive one. But in reality, I don’t care anymore. Or do I just care about something else more? I think I just decided to care about my
students as people. And, once again, I
am smiling.
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