This is about instruction, applicable to coaching or classrooms. I'm thinking more about this currently since I'm about 6 weeks (10 May 2023) out while writing this blog entry from doing a presentation for the Marine Corps' civilian/coach leadership conference. Though it is on Marine leadership principles practical use and mentorship, I've been thinking about how I teach--how I was taught.
That then combines with someone I interact with on Twitter because of the Dietz Foundation. She uses games in the classroom--but primarily, she teaches Latin to high school students. Okay--most people reading this coach...so you're now wondering what's up. Fair.
In high school, as part of an English class my last year there, we had a workbook on vocabulary and increasing our comprehension of English. Honestly--knowing Latin prefixes and suffixes is GREAT for understanding words you are unfamiliar with. It really does expand your vocabulary and it gives you a head's up when you are trying to read foreign languages overseas to boot.
The problem was--the teacher sucked. Bad.
So how would you get a classroom of kids to willingly go along with studying parts of words--something they don't like and find boring? (see now where this is heading...?)
For me, I'd find some interesting words or Latin phrases they've seen: carpe diem, ad astra per aspera, caveat emptor, e pluribus unum. You get the idea. Then you ask where they've seen those phrases--what English words they look like or others that have a similar look--so astra...astrology. pluribus--plural and unum looks like uno--so plural becomes one. Get it?
You try and hook them with their own curiosity. Now you can start giving them a few prefixes--ask them to think of words on their own that use that. Ditto for suffixes. Now you can hit them up with actual assignments using words they don't necessarily know...but since they now see how prefix/suffixes work, they can learn the words from those and context.
Let them work in pairs or groups to see how many they can brainstorm? Make it competitive if you want--5 XC points for the group that finds the most words using "pro-" as a prefix.
Instead--we got "Do pages 25-30 in the book. Read the instructions, copy the words." Blah-blah-blah. Though to be fair--if you read the 'teacher sucked' link, it didn't matter for me. My stuff wasn't getting graded no matter what so I could skip the boring repetitive stuff that didn't interest me. Pity should be reserved for everyone else having to learn through makework.
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So...coaching--do you let your athletes' curiosity do the heavy lifting? Do you let them show initiative? --things that eventually help develop self-confidence and leadership skills. Or do you have them do monotonous drills one after the other?
Do you let them collaborate as more than just tosser/passer, servers/shaggers? Do you let your athletes try and run the offense on their own or do you tell them who to set and when?
This doesn't mean there's no place in the world for a passing drill or a setting drill--there is a time and place for everything--I'm just thinking about the approach to the work and improvement. Kids learn better when they buy in, when they are invested in the process and the result.
So take some time--think how you can do this...it'll help in the gym, the classroom--and even communication elsewhere. Just as important, by helping young people develop initiative and the confidence to find their own means of approaching problems, you make them better human beings--the real purpose of youth sports!
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