The Misunderstood Coach...

      Being reared in Southwest Oklahoma, there are two absolute truths that you learn early on. First, oil is the number one cash crop and two, sports are the center of the social hub of many communities.  In my part of the country, Texas & Oklahoma, that means in the fall football, in the spring Basketball and wrestling, and in the summer baseball. If you played another sport, good luck with that. For a very long time coaches in the classroom got a very bad wrap.  For a number of reason, the stereotype of a coach reflected around them reading the newspaper and not teaching, and being assigned to the history department.

    I had a number of coaches for teachers during middle school and high school.  As a student, my opinion about them was reinforced by what I observed taking their class. When I started my teaching career as as a substitute teacher, back in 2004, and later as a History teacher in a High School, I brought with me my opinions from being a student.  I was very fortunate that in both middle school and high school, I had many coaches who were excellent teachers.  Unfortunately, I did have a few coaches, who left a lot to be desired.  I am thankful that the latter were few and far between.

     I want to take a moment to tell you about some of my colleagues who are both coaches and teachers.  I want you to know about what kind of teacher they are, and what lessons we can learn from them. I admire the coaches I have worked with, both personally and professionally.  Three of the many I have worked with are Reed, Brayden and Diane, not their real names.

     When you think of a football coach, you think of the rough and tough, no holds bar demanding coach. A person who is loud and shouts at people and looks for anyway to win. I know when I think of a football coach I think of Mike Ditka  or Tom Landry.  These types of men demand respect. Reed  may very will be a similar type of man, but I never saw it. Where as Ditka and Landry command respect, Reed earns it.  He is caring, quiet, and professional. Reed is not the head football coach, that would be his dad. Reed  is soft-spoken, firm, and gentle man, who will stop what he is doing to help someone out. Reed spends a good amount of time each semester building relationships with his players, and his students. It is his time building the personal relationships that I believe makes him excellent teacher and a great coach. The  thing I admire most about Reed  is how he brags on his students and his players.  He is quick to praise them publicly, and he is always mindful of the needs of his students. He is never afraid to redirect both his students and athletes to task, and motivate them to make better decisions. He always has something positive to say about everyone, even those students who are less than perfect.  I believe that when he looks at students and athletes, he finds the good in them and helps them express that in his class and in the sports he coaches. He looks for ways for young people to succeed.

      I got to know Brayden over the years he had the classroom next to me, we shared many stories of growing up, sports, and life ambitions.  Where Reed is soft-spoken, Brayden on the other hand is quick to point things out. The approach he takes on and off the field is to show the young people around him to take responsibility.  He will tell you when something is embarrassing and he takes his job as teacher and coach very seriously.   Brayden is very much goal and detail oriented two traits that are no doubt valuable to him on the baseball diamond, and in the Math classes he teaches.  This is exemplified with how he carries himself, and how he dresses.  When Brayden walks into class, he wastes no time getting started.  He looks for opportunities for people to succeed  and he believes in his students many times when they have given up believing in themselves. Perhaps the thing I admire most about Brayden, is how he treats everyone as a human being.   He talks directly to people making eye contact and expressing exactly what he thinks.

      Diane is all together different than Brayden and Reed, like Brayden and Reed, she teaches Math. There goes the idea all coaches teach history.  In fact, she not only teaches math but she even organized the schools Pi day celebration. She takes her teaching from the approach that not everyone is going to love Math like she does, but she wants her students to not be fearful of it. She is just as a demanding of her students as she is of herself.  She encourages her students to try new things and to explore ideas and concepts.  She always has time for another project, to include making home made marsh mellows, and coconut cream pies for her friends. ( I do miss those by the way.) One of my first times working with Diane  was when I was asked to chaperone a bus full of kids up to a Basketball game in Tulsa, and she was the bus driver.  I observed how student oriented she was, the mere fact that she was driving a school bus on a Friday night to Tulsa some 3 hours away, meant that she was sacrificing a great deal of time from her family to ensure our students had an opportunity to cheer on their school.   Diane  also took time during the trip to tell me about all the school traditions, that new teachers were expected to know. She helped me ensure that the students entrusted to our care hundreds of miles away from home, were good ambassadors of our school and of our community.

     As a teacher, I learned to appreciate all of my colleagues, including the coaches, and have been blessed to have them as allies.  Many times, they knew of ways to get through to a student who was either a troublemaker, or were apathetic.  They spend countless hours outside of the classroom and the playing field being good role models, and encouraging young people to do the same for others.  In so many ways, my friends, were not just coaching athletics to students, but they coached their peers on people skills.  If you take nothing else away from this article, take this.  Teachers who are coaches, want students to succeed not just in school, not just in the sport, but in life.  

Get Out! Explore!

     Not too long ago, my wife and I went exploring on the island of Saipan.  The island separates the Philippine sea and the Pacific ocean.  This island along with its neighbor Tinian played a significant role in the history of the United States during World War II.
    I like many people from the mainland, knew very little about Saipan until my wife and I arrived here in August.  As my wife will tell you, I love history, and the island of Saipan doesn't disappoint.
      One of our first adventures on the island was to the German Bunker.  What I know about this structure can be summed up with two words, Not Much.  However, one of my fellow teachers, knows a great deal about the history of the island and shared with me a lot about this place. I might add it is fascinating. One of the great lessons in education is that people are drawn to what interest them.  It is no surprise that what I have found here to be fascinating to me. Though my wife humors me about some of our explorations of the island thus far, she is very much interested in the local beaches, and the vast amounts of fresh seafood that island life offers.
     As a teacher, I spend time teaching my students what they need to know, not just for the exams, and the class, but for what they need to know in life. I want all of my students to appreciate the opportunity they have to receive an education. Most importantly I want them the appreciate where they live and the rich history that makes up the community.

    In my last blog post, I wrote about the importance of teachers, and adults being part of the community and to find ways to give back to the community.  I encourage you to go and read that blog post.  Today, I want to encourage everyone to learn the local history of where they live. As the old saying goes, "Home is where you hang your hat."  It is important that you know about the history of the area you live.  I suspect this is why so many state legislatures mandate state history for high school students.  Rather than a mandate, maybe it is time that we adults take a moment, and to explore the history around us, and to create some excitement in our young people about the area they live in.  I cannot think of one place that I have spent the night, that did not have some interesting history. A history that helped tell a story of our nation and of the world.

    There are a number of options to learn about the local history.  Museums, parks, monuments, and books are a great way to dive into the local history.  One of the more fun ways to dive into the history is something that my wife enjoys, Festivals.  She loves most Festivals that we have attended, though she makes a point of demanding we stay clear of any festival that talks about Rattlesnakes. I of course comply with her demands on this point.
     One other way you can get out and start learning about history is to explore the ruins you find.  Having spent some time here on the island, my wife and did explore the ruins of the old German Bunker.   In fact the photos on this post are of the structure.  In many ways, the exploration of an area like this will help our children and teens make a personal connection to the history and to the area.  These memories will help to foster a understanding that the places they learn about in school, are real places, not so far away.  Much like the field trips of the elementary school days, these types of adventures can and do serve a great way to connect what is learned in the classroom with the world around us.

    If you have the opportunity to get and explore the local area, DO IT!  Many times, even if it is a tourist spot, we neglect to visit the areas, that are important to the local history.  I know for sure that many of the side trips that my wife and I have made, certainly had a great impact on us both.  The local people who are around, are also a great source for learning about what happened in the area.  They also tell the best stories, and are very willing to guide you in your efforts to explore. Get out and explore!