Almost at the end

I can't believe we are in the month of December. Where did the time go? I try to think back during this time of year to see what I have learned in the past year because knowledge is power. I can honestly say that in the previous year I feel more confident in how I present myself when teaching or coaching. I remember my first feelings of being nervous and somewhat scared to coming into a classroom or practice ready to work! Teaching kids is very rewarding when you put the work into it and see improvement as they begin to grow in their own life. Some learn the easy way and others learn the hard way but given a chance to succeed they can surprise you. All in all it has been a good year and I look for more to come. I never knew that blogging could be this much fun and it can be a great way to vent without any input.....haha

I enjoyed the class and reading everyone's experience as a teacher. Good luck in the upcoming year and remember to enjoy what we have been called to do.

Thanksgiving

Well, I thought I would get a break for thanksgiving but I was wrong. My wife and I have decided to move during that time period as well as seen family. I am getting my homework done in advance so that I won't be behind when I come back from visiting family next weekend. Hopefully, I will have time to relax and enjoy the time. I am very thankful for the things I have but what we should really be thankful for is the loved ones around us during that time because you never know what could happen in the blink of an eye. We do take for granted having people there to support us and comfort us during hard times. Nor are we thankful for our educators.....haha

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

Meeting Time

I love the phrase, "Meetings are to eliminate problems before they happen." We have meetings with students, athletes, administrators, and parents to make sure we covered everything we need to incase any problems arise. My mentor explains to me that planning is the key to success in this field of work and I can see why. I will never forget the first time I walked into a meeting unprepared and I hated the feeling of just making things up even though I can do it that way. My goal for this year is to become a better planner.

Issues with behavior

I have noticed that student behavior changes this time of year and they feel like they can get away with anything. I feel like the only thing I say is "NO or Stop that." Even in athletics, the season is over and most of them become lazy. So we are in the process of teaching them how to work in the off-season to prepare for the future. We have had many athletics doing punishment for misbehaving in a class or showing us a bad grade when report cards come out. We have to buckle down and push the students to finish out the semester strong.

New Month

Well, November is here and the weather is starting to get colder. In my off-season class, we are having to try to share a P.E. with the middle school to get running workouts in and it is not the best place to run. Lucky, we are lifting three times a week which is very good for the girls that are going to run track and play softball. We have a pre-softball meeting planned for November 14th to discuss scheduling for throwing practice and uniforms. I recently talked to a school club about donating money for new uniform tops and the request went through. I feel like I haven't slowed down since last summer and I find myself taking more and more naps when I get home. As a coach, I feel that I have to bring a high energy to the class period to get the max amount of effort for a short amount of time and when I get home my energy is almost spent. Once, I get my house work done I have homework to work on and planning for future lessons. It can be very draining at times but I am trying to get better at managing my time.

Birthday Time

Well, my birthday was yesterday and the teachers had me a cake and acouple of presents when I got there in the morning. I was shocked! It was very nice and I enjoy the time with all of them, I am very lucky to work with them and learn from them as well.

Basketball Time

Basketball practice is going strong right now and everybody has almost shifted gears for the season and the excitement of how are we going to do this year. For me, It is a time to catch up on things and focus on what I need to do to get prepared for the spring. If that means getting ready for softball or the Praxis III. The girls basketball coach asked me to help him but I couldn't because I am responsible for the girls off-season program for those that do not play basketball. One of these days I plan to get back into basketball because I played it and still love it. Knowledge is power!

Blogging Topics

I find myself blogging about coaching more than a P.E. class because that is what I am involved in more this year. My first year I had five P.E. class and now I only have two. It allows me to have a larger class and we are able to play large team based games instead of small classes where we focused on more individual learning more than team based. I would not trade my job for any job in the world right now because I love coaching and teaching. When I was younger, I heard many teachers and coaches complain about the pay and I can understand that if you already have a family you need to provide for but my wife and I are doing pretty well with no kids. It is a big difference than a student worker job at the university. I look forward to the upcoming year to further my knowledge of teaching and coaching.

One sport over.....

Well, the football season for Genoa is over and it turned out to be an interesting year for Genoa Football. All in all, we showed improvement every game and some players really stood out in the first year. I, as young coach, learned a lot about the game and mainly learned how to teach it to a student that has never been involved with a football program. It has been a fun year so far and can't wait to get started on softball practice.

Foreign Exchange

We recently add two foreign exchange students to our enrollment and I have one of them in my physical education class. Her name is Maria and she is from Spain. At the beginning of the year I sit down with them and have a group discussion to get to know all my students. She speaks English pretty well but sometimes she does not comprehend certain words we use to explain things.

In my class, I allow for a lot of peer to peer tutoring and have found it successful in most cases. I was very interested to see if the communication barrier would effect her performance. In the picture I uploaded, she is to the right of me (I am on the other side of the net in a white shirt) because I am demonstrating how to set the volleyball.










I like the sheltered instruction when dealing with diverse learners because it fits well with peer to peer teaching. I think it has helped to have her engage more verbally with speaking English because she is becoming more comfortable. I still have to help her in comprehension because the youth today has their own dialog and she does not understand their lingo.

I sat down with her one day and we talked about what her concerns were when she first started school. One of them was the fact that she sometimes does not comprehend what we are saying and she just nods her head when she doesn't understand. The girl’s basketball coach and I sat down with her and explained that it is good if she asks questions because he had some trouble with her understanding terminology. Now she is doing much better and is more out going than when she arrived.

My definition of diversity is a state of mind different from your own that could be culturally, religiously, or racially. Without diversity, it would be a boring world to live in.

Need to Share!!

I work at Genoa Central School District and we are just starting football this year with a Junior High schedule only. Our coaching staff consists of two retired coaches, Eddie Jackson retired as a Texas coach and came to Genoa to help start the program as Head Coach and Doug Norwood is a retired coach from Dierks, Arkansas. Then you have 4 rookie coaches that are all head coaches in others sports at the school.

To make a long story short, we played the Horaito Lions and our 7th grade recorded their first win in Genoa Central History!! We were very excited about the win but know that we have a long way to go before we start Senior High Football.

Watching those boys succeed after "teaching" them for 8 weeks on how to block and tackle was very fulfilling. For those who don't coach, it would be the same thing as a student getting a 100% on a final test that you had worked very hard to help them understand the concepts in that subject. As I reflect on it, I realize the reason for us becoming teachers is not for the pay that is for sure but to help our students see that hard work and determination are two of many tools needed to succeed in this world.

Confusion

Paper work can be stressful.......

I came into the MAT program a year ago and I have to take this class again because I didn't keep a 3.00 GPA. To be honest I was mad, but I realized that I am the one that could have changed it if I would have been better at managing my time. Ever heard of all work and no play??? That was me last year because I felt like I needed to show everyone that I am a hard worker since it was my first teaching job but I spent too much extra time after hours to prove it.

Do some of you feel like your life has to be busy or does your wife or husband feels that way?? Well my wife has always been that way and I think it has rubbed off on me. I enjoy it but there is a point when you can spread yourself too thin. That is one thing I learned from last year and I intend to try and fix it this year. The moral of the story is what I tell athletes everyday, " We can't control others' mistakes but we can learn and fix our own."

Storms in the area

I have a half brother that lives in Lafayette, La and they had to evacuate because of potential flooding. I was thankful for labor day weekend because my wife and I got to see them for about a day. The hurricane wasn't as bad as it could have been but it still caused a lot of damage. Classes are going pretty well so far and I hope they stay that way all year. I feel that I am close to being ready to take the Praxis III in the spring. I think confidence is the key other than understanding what they want to see in your classroom and in your thought process when evaluating your lesson.

Labor Day

Labor Day weekend went by way too fast. I come back into town to realize that my book has been sent back for this class. What a great way to start a short week. I began my day with getting soaked in the rain because of the hurricane moving this way. We have a few leaks in the gym which have been there since last year, we just trust and adjust. I find myself using that statement a lot, "Trust and Adjust". The good thing is I have learned to think off of my feet and come up with activities no matter what the situation. We live and we learn, last year was a great example of how I barely lived through it but learned a great deal to help me this year. My mentor keeps telling me that it will never come together like you want it but some how it ends up the way you need it. Last year my wife and I coached softball together and we went to the regional tournament, but this year we are focused on what we need to do to get to the state tournament. We are slowly getting our head above water and hopefully we will be better prepared for this season. I look forward to a great year and keep learning from my mistakes.

Keeping Students Active

This week has been a challenge to keep students active in physical education. After the first week of doing paperwork and going over rules, procedures, and the handbook, students become a little lazy. I have had multiple students tell me that I am meaner than I was last year. I too can tell the difference one year can make when you have good role models and a great mentor. I can honestly say that I learn a lot from others that have been there for over 20 years and know how to deal with students. Dealing with students is one key to becoming a good teacher and we must make a effort to learn the correct way to handle certain situations. The only way to learn is trial and error, I enjoy listening to the older teachers and coaches because they have endless amount of situations they have been through. Don't expect to be a great teacher in one or two years because you will be disappointed. I can't count the mistakes I made in one year but I have learned from them which will help me in my effort to become a great teacher.

First Time For Everything

I am considered to be a tech person but this is my first experience blogging. I do believe we will benefit from writing down our encounters in the classroom and hopefully learn from each other. I will start this blog off with saying; Time Management is the key to teaching and coaching. I find myself behind throughout the semester and my planning never works like I envisioned. The only person that is responsible is me and there are plenty of times where I could have said NO to my boss when they ask me to take a certain job. But I am sure most of us want to stay on our boss's good side so we just suck it up and end up spreading our self too thin. I fell victim to that this last year and the effects are still going. I find myself volunteering my time in athletics and not getting anything for it. I am the type of person that works and I cannot stand around when there is a 3 page list of things to do, so I end up doing more work than I set out to. My suggestion to first year teachers is not to spread yourself thin like I did because they will start piling more and more on you as you stay there longer.