Coaching: Is It Really For Me?

Where do I start with coaching? What was I thinking? The girls are unmotivated and armed with bad attitudes. Looking for someone to blame other than themselves for their losing season. Where else to turn other than their coaches. Coaching adds another two hours of teaching a day. I love the game of basketball so much. I feel like the girls are sucking that love out of me. Coaching is suppose to relieve the stress of teaching but it only makes it worse. I have about four girls who are truly motivated and who I believe truly love the game. Two of which are freshman with very little basketball skills. But these girls have some of the biggest basketball hearts I have ever seen. Through this losing season I can see improvements in their game everyday. They try so hard. They hustle and work hard everyday in practice. Just hoping to improve their skills. Now at the end of the season I can see their great improvements. The other girl is a senior who has not played organized basketball since she was in middle school. She has also came a long way. She can now get a rebound without falling down or traveling. She has very limited skills but she plays with great passion for the game. She has learned to hit a lay up and catch the ball. She has also added a head fake to her game. At five feet six inches, she is greatly undersized for the post position. But a big heart is one thing she does possess. The other girl has all the talent and ability in the world. She is a five foot eleven guard who can shoot, drive, rebound, post up, and handle the ball. She does it all for us. She brings the ball down the court and goes to post up. She has a great heart, but she lacks the work ethic. She carries our team. If she play well; we play well. She also has a great passion for the game, but she has no help. She also handicaps herself. If her best friend is not on the floor then she doesn’t play. Her best friend play no defense, takes awful shot, turns the ball over like it is second nature, on top of that she has an awful attitude. This girl has the talent but thinks nothing is ever her fault. She is also very lazy. Although I have spoke of a lot of negative, there are some positives. I truly care about my girls and hope they succeed in everything they do. I now know the dos and don’ts of head coaching. I am not sure if I want to coach again. I will always love the game of basketball, but I do not think coaching is for me. I could maybe coach eight to eleven year olds, who hopefully will have no attitudes. All they will possess is the want to learn and play the game. Maybe I can instill in them the same love and passion that I possess for the game. Maybe they will go on to be great players.

Who Says the Second Semester is Better Than the First?!

I thought the second semester was going to be easier than the first. I came back from the break rejuvenated and refreshed. I was ready to tackle another semester of h*ll. But for some reason my kids are way worse this semester than last. The thing that bothers me the most is that they seem to be more disrespectful. I can’t even ask a student to sit down with out back talk. These days have gotten so bad that everyday I just want to cry. Cry because I feel inadequate and that I am unable to make it through another day. I just hope that next week is better.
Eighth grade science officially becomes a state tested subject on March 04, 2007. Here I am about a month away. I really do not think my kids are ready. Somehow I have managed to teach majority of the benchmarks, but I still feel my kids are not ready. The last practice test they took went awful. With an average of about 23% correct, they are far from ready. I can’t tell if they just do not know the information, or if they didn’t try. Our school gives practice MCT tests every nine weeks. At this point the kids know that it doesn’t count. For this reason they are done with the fifty -five question test in about twenty minutes. I guess, it all goes back to motivation.
One thing that I am happy about is the conclusion of science fair which, came to an end last week. It was a hassle which did not benefit the students. The people at the top came to our poorly put together science fair, which clearly showed the motivation of our students. Of course they said it wasn’t good enough. Or in the eyes of my town it didn’t look good enough. Because so many students didn’t complete the assignment which was worth six grades, we the teachers, were ordered to give the students another chance. Although I have informed all my students who did not complete the assignment the first time, they have made no effort to make up the assignments. With this said, I will be failing a large percentage of my students. I know it will be more than twenty-five percent which is a not acceptable according to the district. They must be unaware of the students I am teaching. I teach unmotivated students with raging hormones, and no parental support. I heard middle school is tough to teach, but wow. These kids are tough to teach. They have so many other things on their minds other than school. I know I am teaching eighth grade science but my kids say some of the most inappropriate things. It is obvious they are going through puberty!
Am I making a difference? That is the question If I knew and could measure the answer to that question, I would then know my worth. I would know if my absolute misery is worth it. Am I truly changing the world one child at a time? This is a statement that I chose to believe is true. I know I am changing the world one child at a time. This is what I tell myself everyday. This is the only way I make it through the day. This all I can do. Believe that I am making a difference!