Philosophy of Coaching

            Coaching provides students an opportunity to engage in physical activity outside of school at a competitive level. Not only do children who play on interscholastic teams gain the benefit of being active several hours a day, they also learn the value of being on a team. My philosophy on coaching is meant to build up sport specific skills, and should not only help students become as skilled as possible in that sport, but should also teach them values of being on a team and developing relationships.

            As a coach I will strive to focus on each player and their ability. Once their present level of ability is noted in their particular sport, I will help to bring them to the next level. I would like players to not only see what they are, but what they can be. I will also focus on problem solving and the tactical approach of coaching. A player should be taught how to do each movement required for their sport well, and how to apply it in an authentic environment.

            In my opinion, the values taken away from playing a interscholastic sport are much more important than how skilled your team becomes or what their record is. Being a part of a team, with a good coach, should produce athletes who value teamwork, communication, punctuality, respect, problem solving, determination, goal setting, loyalty, community and motivation. Having these players every day for practice time, you will see physical improvements, but it is just as important to make sure your team understands that becoming a team will ultimately lead them to success. All of these skills that are learned from playing on a team will carry over to the real world, in college or in employment opportunities. A prospective employer or college will look for people with determination, a good work ethic, loyalty, and honesty. If my players can walk away from a season of playing on my team and have an understanding of what it means to be a team player, and have all of these attributes, I believe I did my job.

Philosophy of Physical Education

II. Physical Education

    As a professional physical educator I believe that there are three major ideas that frame what I do and value in the field.  These ideas are building physically competent/proficient students, developing an understanding of why physical education is important, and implementing life long fitness into students lives. Teaching a child to become physically competent, showing them the numerous benefits of physical education, and ‘giving them the tools to keep up activity for a lifetime are the basis of my philosophy in physical education.

            Within physical education I would like to expose students to a diverse array of activities. In doing so we will find an activity that a student is competent in, and could build up to become proficient in. Also by showing students a variety of physical activities from many parts of the world students are becoming more well rounded and open minded about other cultures and countries activities. While trying to build competent students, it is important to keep in mind that students have varying ability. I would like to set students up for success. In order to ensure students improvement and build toward competency and proficiency, I will implement various levels of tasks and progress from the level a child is at, upward and onwards.

            I also believe it is very important to not only express to our students why physical education is important, but to all of society. I will push to make sure students understand the benefits of physical education. My students will know that being physically active and eating healthy will not only better their bodies, but it will also allow their minds to thrive and build even better academic students. I will show students information about childhood obesity and its increase in the recent years. While presenting all of this information about how positive physical education is, I will not scare the children. The point of discussing how important physical education is in school is to get students motivated and interested in moving their bodies.

            Lifelong fitness is an ever growing aspect of physical education. I believe life long fitness is one of the most important things you can teach to your students within the curriculum. In traditional PE there is a lot of team sports, such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball. Although I do value some aspects learned through team sports, you cannot play these sports for a lifetime. I want my students to have the tools to keep them fit for their whole lives, not just for when they walk into my classroom. Some activities I would like students to get into are activities they can do on their own, for their lifetime. These activities include dance, yoga, Pilates, hiking, canoeing, biking, ice skating, rollerblading, and skiing. There are plenty more activities than those listed, and I would like to implement as many lifetime activities into my PE curriculum as possible. Exposing students to these new activities may be just the jump they need to become passionate about being physically active.

Philosophy of Education

I. Education

               As a professional educator I rest my philosophy of education upon three major pillars of belief. Together, these three beliefs provide the basis of what I value, what I do, and why I do it as an educator.  These four beliefs include: building good, moral, sound young men and women, encourage self discovery, develop a sense of community as a class, and preparing students for life after high school. Being an educator is not just about presenting material to students; it is about making sure these students understand what you are teaching them, and why. As a teacher it is not only your job to educate these children when it comes to the books, but also educate them about life to come.

            Every person in the world has a set of morals or ethics. Depending on where your students come from, their experiences, and their environment, they may come into school with varying beliefs. As an educator I will strive to express my beliefs and morals to my students, while keeping an open mind and not imposing my beliefs on my students. I would like to express to my students my value in honesty, mutual respect, and welcoming diversity.

            Within my guidance to encourage students to become honest, respectful, and well rounded, I would like to have students discover for themselves what they value, and their value to their school, community, and society. I believe every student is talented in some endeavor, and they just need to discover their talent. To give students greater opportunity for self discovery, I will have a diverse classroom. Not only with students, but information presented. I would like to expose children to a number of activities so that every student may find something they enjoy and are good at. While exposing students to a number of subjects or activities, and educator should also be a keen observer. Once a student is seen excelling at a particular subject, it is important to help foster their growth within that subject.

            Whether students discover they are good leaders, good organizers, great designers, or good at movement, I would like to give every student a role in the classroom. I believe building a classroom with a sense of community is vital to success not only for student learning,  but also for their preparation to be released into life after high school.  Within the classroom I believe it is important for everyone to have a task, to feel as if they are contributing to the classroom running smoothly. Here giving the students a responsibility and opportunity to express attributes that are looked for in life after high school, such as punctuality, hardworking, honesty, and in some cases group collaboration, will give them an idea of what kind of people are successful in the world