My journey in the Master of Arts in Education has been very helpful throughout my time here at Michigan State. Not only has it helped me with my aspiring dream of becoming a coach, but it has helped me learn a lot about teaching. Knowing that coaching at an elite level such as college at the age of 23 is so difficult, I would love to start out at a high school and do both coaching and teaching at once if possible. Below are a few assignments that I have worked on during my last two years, to help me understand teaching in todays new age.
Education
In this essay I was able to distinguish the pros and cons of the use of media in classrooms today. I was able to research sides for and against the use of media for all students nationally. There were many cases for both sides of the argument. For an introductory paper, this piece really put me in the shoes of possible future students and got me to think whether or not this was positively affecting students.
Social media and the use of electronics is growing at a rapid speed. In this memo to future colleagues, I shared how the use of electronics can be beneficial for students in the classroom. In this day and age, doing smart research online can aid students in saving time with the possibility of learning more. This memo helped me understand that taking advantage of the growing media can help our students rather than hinder them.
Here, this piece again dives into technology. The debate as to whether using technology is better for students continues. Some disagree with more technology because it hurts the students that do better with face to face learning. This can also be a disservice to teachers as they struggle giving attention to one individual while conducting a class for many. This allowed me to think of different ways I could see myself conducting an online class, versus if I was teaching in the traditional classroom.
This was more of a personal piece as I was able to to talk about how online courses have been helpful to me. With a busy schedule, online classes made it easier to set aside much needed time to complete all of my daily tasks. I did not have a set time for class, as I was the one who dictated when I had to do certain activities in a given day. The technology that was presented to me always made deadlines clear and allowed me to act accordingly. You can view some of the scholarly websites that helped me accomplish a variety of tasks.
Coaching
In this essay I was able to look at the issue involving mental health in sport today. Throughout this paper you will see examples of some professional basketball players and how they were impacted by mental illness. It was important to me to research and understand that there are a lot of pressures involved even with people you may not expect. Learning ways to calm players down and help them during dangerous times is a big deal and can not be overlooked.
This was one of my favorite and important pieces to write in my master's program. This was a hands on project where I got to sit down with two athletes and use different questioning methods. Something that I really took away from this was that using the right questioning tactics can help your athletes determine what their focuses and goals are. This will ultimately get my athletes motivated and ready to reach their goals.
In this paper I was allowed to merge a few of the concepts I had previously learned about in order to instill confidence in my players. Giving feedback to all of your players is essential no matter how quick the feed back may be. Saying "good job" as a player runs by can be very uplifting. Frame of mind is important and is half of battle when it comes to sport.
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The use of instruction, reinforcement, and questioning are all frequently used behaviors in coaching today. In this paper I was able to process what techniques would best suite me as a future coach. Finding the right balance between those three behaviors is vital in order to not seem redundant or overbearing. This was a great learning tool for me in order to gain knowledge on my own coaching styles.
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