It's Pep talk time...Press On!

Allen Boyd, my HS basketball coach, is one of the reasons I got into education.  He was a great model of how to treat people, how to prepare for classroom instruction and basketball games, and how to inspire persistence and perseverance through his coaching.  He loved what he did and people could see it in the way he carried himself as a teacher, coach, husband, father, and community member.  He now inspires students at SWOSU to get into the teaching field.  Rarely do you catch the man not smiling.  One of the most inspiring messages I listened to him use with one of his basketball teams was a lesson he stole from a Calvin Coolidge quote.  "Press On"!  He knew had a special group of players.  They were 3-4 at the time he taught this lesson.  They were frustrated but had played a tough schedule to start the year.  The team went on to be a State Runner-up team.  The lesson to "Press On" was a turning point in the season.  It came from a Calvin Coolidge quote.  Coach Boyd...thanks for the life lesson!

It's been one doozy of a week at SW Elementary.  I'm pretty sure our kids have gone stir crazy over the last few weeks because of the colder weather.  When it finally warmed up this week, our students were ready to let out some pent up energy.  The way they let out that energy was not always, what I would consider, appropriate for the school setting.  Sometimes I probably do a terrible job of taking some of the stress of discipline in the classroom off of my teachers shoulders, and sometimes my teachers don't let me help enough.  Finding that balance is never easy, and it never will be.  I appreciate the patience and persistence my colleagues exercise everyday.  So here's my pep talk to my teachers this week.

"Press On"!  You have taken the time to know your kids.  You care about each and every one of them.  "Press On"!  You have a plan to give each one of them opportunities to have a successful education.  Stick with your plan!  "Press On!  We talk about modeling what we want our students to see.  We have opportunities each and every day to show them patience, persistence and perseverance pays off.  Here's your chance to show them how to "Press On"!