Life Lessons
"You don't want grown men behaving badly," my assistant principal recommended. He was referring to last night's Staff vs. Seniors basketball game I helped to coordinate. We had been talking about our belief that we had a chance to win the game.
He advised, "You show them that you can win, and then you let them win."
The statement shows the deep contrast in educationl philosophy that exists within the world of education. He cares deeply for our students; he wants them to succeed. In his mind, allowing the students to experience success on the court is showing that care.
To me, and others, actually beating them offers an equally valuable lesson in caring. We care about you so much, we won't just give you success; you have to earn it.
In the end, we staff members dominated much of the first half. Then our tired legs gave way to youthful legs and the seniors won going away. I blame myself as player coach--or maybe, I subconsciously gave in to my assitant principal.
More importantly, we raised over $800 for our yearbook and succeeded once again in bringing a largely segregated student body together for a fun time--even if it was at the expense of my two missed layups and wild airball from behind the three point arc.
posted by Mr. McNamar @ 1:12 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
That assistant principal is a dunderhead. I hate that kind of "thinking."
It teaches makes victory cheap, and when applied to the classroom, actually undercuts real learning and achievement which only comes through struggle and honest assessment, rather than the stroking of over-inflated self esteem.
You have no idea how much of a dunderhead he is. Although, I have come up with some other choice words for him over the years. The notion that he "cares deeply" for the students is an overstatement. He does care... certainly much more than he ever does for his staff.
We had a faculty v. student basketball game at my school this week, too. For the first half the teachers whooped the students. The second half was a lot closer game, and I thought the teachers might have been throwing it, but in the end I think they were just getting tired. The teachers won. Everyone had fun. It was an honest game.
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