Hot Dogs and Coaching

What an amazing day! The weather was perfect, the events were exciting, and the hot dogs at the ballpark were warm.

It was a pretty successful day of subbing at Tipton today. I learned some very important things about how I want to run my own classroom when I get it.

I think what I learned about the most was expectations about my students. For me, it is very saddening to see someone give up on a student and to think that they cannot achieve great things.

Granted, as my friend Chad says, "Life is not a beautiful field of daisies, dancing kittens, and sunshine and rainbows." But, it is my hope to never become complacent and jaded with my work.

I am sure that there will be bad days but I really hope that I am able to keep the same level of passion and energy throughout my entire career. It is not fair to me or the students if I don't.

After my day of learning, I was very busy visiting tennis practices, going to track meets (my players kicked major butt again! Good job ladies!), and attending my good friend David's baseball game.

Even though I told him that all I needed was a Coke and a hot dog to enjoy myself, I was extremely impressed with the way he handled himself and how well prepared his players were for the game this afternoon.

In thrilling fashion, they defeated a very talented team 4-3 in one of the more memorable baseball games that I have seen in a while. I think the main reason that I enjoyed myself so much was because I have been in his position before. Seeing our players perform to the level that they are capable of makes winning and losing seem so small in the grand scheme of things.

Good job tonight buddy! I hope you continue to have that same passion for coaching and baseball. If for no other reason than giving me an excuse to come to the ballpark to watch your team along with enjoying my Coke and hot dog.

Finishing the Race

I went down to Tipton last evening for a track meet that some of my basketball players were participating in.

I had a great time and my players did very well. I was very proud.

Their perseverance is what impressed me the most. Even if they did not clear the high jump bar or stumbled on the hurdles, they picked themselves up and pressed on to finish.

Afterward, I thanked them for letting me know about the meet and that I had a wonderful time despite the fact that it was freezing outside.

I also told them that in life it is not important if a person falls down. The important thing is that a person gets back up and finishes the race.

With that in mind, here is a little video of one of my favorite movie speeches of all time that deals with that very thing. Enjoy!