I have been a player, an official, a coach, and a student teacher and can honestly say that teaching is a lot like coaching a sports team.  Both teaching and coaching involve long hours in the office or on the court instructing students how to accomplish their goals in the best way possible. 
            A coach takes a sports instructor position because he or she wants to help kids enjoy a sport that the coach enjoys.  Instructors of any profession come into the job with passion and an eagerness to share their passion with someone else.  Teachers and coaches want to see a spark of fire from their burning excitement ignite in their pupils eyes.
            In the classroom I spend every minute of the period guiding my students through exercises that will enrich their minds and help them take on new challenges.  Teaching a student a technique to help them remember what a sonnet is or how to deconstruct a poem is the same as a coach helping his or her team with a new play.  A class period is for practice; students practice their skills through writing, revision, discussion, and constructive criticism.  Much like the perfect arc on a 3 point shot, good writing takes time to develop and it is my job to see that each of my team members gets proper coaching and time to practice these life long skills. 
            In order to perfect a skill practice cannot stop in the classroom; students need to eat, sleep, and breathe literature to gain a true appreciation for a genre.  A running coach will often assign mileage to be run over the weekends and basketball coaches require pick up games in the park just as a teacher assigns literature readings for homework.  As a future teacher it is my job to encourage, but not force, my students to surround themselves with the written word.  I want my students to be so motivated by Chaucer or Milton that they run home to read anything they can get their hands on.  I want them to practice and hone their skills. 
            Sports bring about a mystical love for physical activity that all who participate want to partake in.  I want my English class to encourage a bond between player and sport, writer and genre.  I want students to go home and practice reading, writing, or reciting with friends, parents or alone.  Regardless of whom they practice with, I want my players to go home inspired to continue the game.
            Sports are activities that mom’s and dad’s want to do with their children.  Dad’s are usually anxious to coach their son or daughter’s soccer team; literature is becoming more like a sport everyday.  Parents read to their children before bed and with the enthusiasm with which I will coach my students, students will ask to be read to; to be taught the skills of the written word.
            Teaching is not just lecturing in front of a class just as coaching does not solely involve running drills at practice.  A teacher, and a coach, needs to be aware of his or her students’ environment and needs.  Occasionally a circumstance arises that needs personal attention; at situation that has nothing to do with the team or the classroom.  I am the type of coach that recognizes when a student is struggling due to outside circumstances.  No teacher or coach should be afraid to be supportive of a student’s emotional needs as well as academic needs.  Intermittently there needs to be a break in practice; students can only be pushed so far when a teammate is having trouble.
            Individual attention does not always have to be something that is private.  When one teammate is struggling with a concept, others are often having issues in the same section.  I am a big proponent of close proximity help.  If a student has a question that will help the whole team I will stand nearer the student with the question but explain the reading selection to the whole class.
            Part of being a good teacher and a good coach is the responsibility you have to teach your pupils to be positive and encouraging.  I teach my players to be supportive of one another when writing and giving constructive criticism.  Students get an opportunity to peer review papers just as teammates get a chance to watch plays and make suggestions during practice.  When my team sits down to peer review they are not allowed to say more than three negative criticisms without at least one positive comment.   Peer reviewing and encouraging each other helps build a stronger team and a trusted learning community.
            Not only are my students urged to support each other but they are also taught to be supportive and polite to those teammates who critique their papers.  Learning to cheer for their teammates and being supportive of other players is a valuable lesson that students can apply not only on the court or in the classroom but anywhere in life.  Being a team player is a life long lesson that should be carried with them no matter where they venture.

           With increased pressure surrounding the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL’s), it now becomes a teacher’s job to coach his or her kids through the test.  A teacher must prepare his or her students for the big game.  With nerves high and parents counting on a win, students must be taught how to cope with the big test and what to expect.  Teachers readily morph into the coaching role when someone mentions SOL’s.  I will spend time preparing my students for the format of the test.  My team will see review questions and practice tests as often as a coach reviews game film.  In order to best prepar my students, I feel it is necessary to put them in the game situation and have them take the test to see if they can make the game winning foul shot when it matters. 

            A teacher made assessment is much like practice, you run the drills that the coach has set up and you know what to expect.  I want my students to feel like the SOL is just anther day in class, just a day of practice.  In my classroom they will be faced with intense review so when game day comes they will be ready to play.

            Taking tests will get my students to college where they will play for the big name coaches but being a good teammate and creativity will get them through life.  Students often feel overwhelmed by the restrictions surrounding their reading and writing as mandated by the state of Virginia; with so much pressure to perform or hit the game winning shot, I want to help my students find a time and place for their creativity.  If a player has an idea for a new offensive play, I want to hear it.  So often teachers get caught up in preparing students for game day when they have to take the SOL’s that they often forget their team is full of creativity.  Students have a wide variety of talents that are not restricted to just my classroom, I want to see their talent in their work.  After practicing for several six weeks, students should be able to see part of themselves in their work.  Even if they missed winning the game by a jump shot or a free throw.  I want my students to know that together we can work on their core skills to prepare for major tests, I will stay after to run drills with them, but their talents need brought to light for use in the real game, life.