Being an athlete has definitely helped me out in many aspects of my life but I never thought that it could really be helping me be the teacher that I am today. I started reading the article "Achieving and Celebrating Academic Milestones: Pomp and Circumstance or High Fives and Dogpiles" by Edutopia and had to give myself a pat on the back. The article gives many reasons why education should look at team sports for a role model. For instance, teamwork is necessary for a team to win and the same can go true to education. When a teacher and student work together as a team and not in opposition, the student will learn a great deal more. Setting high goals and expecting students to achieve those is another way that sports can be the role model for education.
The pat on the back I gave myself was due to my reflection on my teaching methods or philosophy of education. Being a young teacher, especially when I came into my current teaching position being the youngest teacher by 10 years, I had a lot to prove but I was not willing to water down my expectations for my students. My students may be of special needs but in the real world, the bottom line is, can they get the job done that has been asked of them at work? (My job is to prepare them for the work world.) When my students do something wrong, I give them the same consequences that I would give a regular education student. I expect the same work ethic from them. Now granted, they may not be as quick, and I know that, but I still expect them to do a good job.
I will never forget, during my third year of teaching, a teacher approached me about my student being extremely disruptive in his class. I asked him what he would do if that student were "regular ed" and he stated he would write him up and actually he would have been removed from the class by now. I came back with, "So why haven't you done that for my student?" His response, "I should have never told you." Too many teachers "baby" special needs students and don't have high expectations for them and that is why so many of them never reach their full potential. I set high goals for my students, work with them as I push them to achieve those high goals and then show them how proud I really am of them! Maybe this stems from my background in being an athlete myself and a coach now. Who knows?!?! But I will agree with this article. Education can really learn from sports!
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teamwork-dedication-commitment-education-reform-ken-ellis?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
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