#coach t

[donovanmitchell]

ITS STEELERS GAMEDAY!!!!

[mochisquish]

[paperrretro]

sofi: *accidentally wears her don't bothers jersey to the ducks moms practice*

coach t:

[187days]

Day One Hundred Sixty-Nine

This morning was pretty quiet because most of my GOV students had to take the AP Calc exam. Like, for real, I had four students present in one section and three in the other! But I knew that was going to happen, and I know attendance will be iffy in the coming days, too, so I just posted all the work for the week (two readings and some questions- it’s not super challenging) on Classroom and told students to get it done by the end of the school day on Friday. We went outside to work today because it’s gorgeous, and some worked on the stuff I’d assigned, some had more pressing work to do for other classes. It’s all good.

My World students are in the middle of their Current World Issues Research Projects, and I’m giving them all the class time this work to work on those. I had a chat with a couple of them about effectively using that time, and it mostly seemed to help. There are a handful I’m still concerned about, but there’s still time to address it. So I’ll keep trying...

The Head Coach couldn’t be at practice today, so Coach L, Coach T, and I were in charge. It’s the week of States, and some of our athletes who are on the qualifying bubble didn’t show. They just assumed they’re out, but we won’t know for sure till tonight (seeding meeting, where scratches occur), and we told them that over and over last week. And some of the athletes who have definitely qualified aren’t sure they want to go...  I think that attitude caught all of us coaches off guard. We were (and are) so dedicated and competitive, and making it to States was always the dream for us. Like, how could it not be?

Anyways. We talked to them about what a privilege it is to compete- not everyone gets to, talent is finite, etc, etc...- but anyone who still decides they don’t want to go has to tell The Head Coach so he can scratch them and let someone else qualify. 

Sprint practice was short: infield strides, staring blocks. Tomorrow, when we know for sure who’s in, we’ll really get down to business.

[187days]

Bonus Day

It’s winter break, but it’s also indoor track season, so I got up and got on a bus at 7:30AM. 

It was the first meet for our young team, so I spent most of my time making sure athletes were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there, and dispensing advice like “go fast” because that makes nervous athletes laugh. I also did a great impression of Coach T, who can only coach during the outdoor season, for the distance runners; it was something like “imagine you’re the cheetah hunting on the plains...” because he likes to say silly stuff like that before actually talking about race strategies. 

A bunch of the rookie sprinters showed some promise, and the veterans absolutely threw down. I think all of them improved on last season’s PR’s, and some of them picked us up some points. My favorite thing was that three of the boys decided they wanted to throw down in the 300m, and did they ever; one even hit the qualifying mark for States. Ticket punched, first meet, done. The trade-off was none of them ran the relay afterwards- they’re not quite fit enough to recover quickly at this point in the season- but they’ll run it next weekend, and it’ll be good.

A few of our former athletes came to cheer our team on, including one of the most talented runners I’ve ever coached. He’s going on 27 years old (which is about how old I was when I was his coach), and he recently bought a house not far from the college, so he figured he’d drop by. That was a great surprise.

Overall, The Head Coach and I were really happy with the meet. And now my vacation begins for real; I’m headed out of town until the next track meet!

[187days]

Day One Hundred Fifty-Seven

This morning we all arrived for our morning PLC meetings and were treated to free breakfast from some local businesses: coffee, donuts, bagels, muffins... So that was delightful. 

And it’s good because there were parts of my day that were not delightful. Like, I had to contact the parents/guardians of students currently failing my class, had to write up a student for skipping my class, had to deal with an Incident... And, then, at practice, I didn’t have to kick a sprinter off the team, but the Head Coach did. 

Practice was otherwise a blast, though, because it was obstacle course day. Coach K set up a truly excellent course this year, too: students ran, jumped, threw, climbed, etc... their way through it and were treated to Gatorade and goodies afterwards. Coach T was on the mic the whole time, and everyone was cheering one another on. So that was great.

And teaching went well today, too (aside from the one student skipping class, that is). It was another day of Multi-Genre Project research. What really made me happy was that so many kids, in addition to wanting me to check their notes, just wanted to talk to me about what they’d learned. They had so much to share. At first, I was in rush mode, just trying to check in with everyone, but I made myself slow down and enjoy the conversations I was having because they’re full of excitement about learning, and that’s awesome.

The day still feels like it was a bad one, but I’m trying to focus on the good parts of it because they deserve space in my brain. 

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Seven

Today my World students had to come in and put the research they’d done in previous classes to good use by writing me an essay about an issue currently affecting East Asia. Their topics included pollution, overpopulation, the mental health of students in countries with high-stakes tests, the declining birthrate in Japan, the dictatorship in North Korea, unexploded ordinance in Laos, child labor and human trafficking in various countries... Most students were well-prepared and felt confident about their writing, even the ones who usually get anxious about assessments, so the vibe was really positive.

However, five students blew off the class time they’d had to do their research, in spite of constant reminders from me that this essay was coming, so they found themselves in a bit of a pickle. I’m not in the business of causing permanent academic damage, but I do want these kids to learn how to solve their problems rather than having me solve them. So I read them the riot act, focused on helping the students who were prepared, and waited for these five to propose some solutions. Eventually, two of them asked if they could finish their research during class, then come in during lunch and write their essays; when I said yes to that, two others followed with similar plans. Only one student didn’t come up with some way to fix the situation, but that one is going to brainstorm with his case manager after vacation, so he’ll get there eventually, too. 

So there was lots of learning about the world, and about how to succeed as a student. Yes, it’s late in the year for the latter, but I figure it’s better late than never. Plus, I think it’s going to stick at this point.

I had a student come in to make up a quiz during Block 5, and ended up being joined by Mr. F and another student (also making up a quiz) because school counseling needed his room for something or other. Mr. F was grading geometry tests while I was writing out some APUSGOV review notes, but we also kept cracking jokes at each other. And I told the story of Mr. T’s total rookie mistake, which, predictably, did lead to me being asked several times today if I was dating him. 

I think our students were amused by our silliness.

While we were working and silly-ing, a boy who’d been on the college visit that Mr. F chaperoned yesterday came by to apologize because he’d misbehaved during lunch at the college. They shook hands, and Mr. F thanked him for having the character to apologize, and I thought that was pretty cool. Again: lots of learning today.

I went out to practice early so Coach T and I could hide Easter eggs, which is one of our favorite team traditions. I’m talking something like 200 eggs. We hid them on the track, in the bleachers, in snow banks, in the mud, all around the fields, in the woods... Finding them was the team’s warm-up, and it was an absolute ball. One of my sprinter boys came back with, like, 17 eggs stuffed in his hoodie! But, because we coach awesome kids, they mostly ended up splitting the candy, so everyone got a bunch. Pretty great, right?

[187days]

Day One Hundred Sixty-Five

There was caution tape across the entrance to the boys’ bathroom on my floor this morning. Apparently, someone broke a urinal yesterday, which... is the kind of thing that happens in a high school in May, I guess? It always gets squirrely this time of year.

My classes are still going really well, though.

I keep saying how happy I am that the World students have embraced The Multi-Genre Project, so I sound a bit like a broken record if you read this everyday. But if you read this everyday, then you know how much work has gone into increasing our ninth graders’ engagement and academic stamina. At times, it’s been a massive battle, and I’ve always known it’s worth fighting- wouldn’t be much of a teacher otherwise- but it’s been incredible to see how far students have come. 

Sure, some of them are working hard now because they have to hang on to passing grades, but there’s also genuine interest and pride in the work they’re doing. I have serial procrastinators who are ahead of schedule, and students who usually opt to do the bare minimum asking if they can add to the requirements. It’s really cool. 

I’m not doing much besides walking around, reading over stuff, and answering a question or two, so it’s not especially taxing on me. I was wicked tired after Block Four, though, which is probably because the pollen counts are sky high and breathing takes extra effort. So, suffice it to say, I was not energized for the afternoon’s ninth grade house meeting. I don’t think I was the only one who was feeling out of sorts; we all got a little snippy with each other, at first. But then we got to work planning next year’s freshmen orientation, and everyone brightened once the ideas started to flow. Plus, Mr. M went to Starbucks and came back with coffee for everyone, so that was pretty great.

Afterwards, I went out to practice. The Head Coach was at the seeding meeting, so Coach T and I were in charge. We said a few motivational words, did attendance, led warm-ups, and then everyone broke off into their event groups. Mr sprinters did relay passes, block starts, and 100m repeats. We had the whole track to ourselves, too, because Coach K’s throwers were out in the back field and Coach T’s distance runners were off on the trails. So it was unusually quiet, but it was also kind of perfect to be out there without any distractions.