Qualities of a Great Coach: Part 3

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Just about anyone who has ever been involved in athletics for any extended period of time has had at least one coach who was highly influential and made a positive difference in their life. As both an athlete and coach of multiple sports, I have been blessed to work with some dynamite coaches who have been instrumental in my own growth and development as a coach, husband and father. The fact of the matter is that coaches are oftentimes the most influential individual in a young person's life. It is a tremendous responsibility and one that I take very seriously. With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to write a series sharing some of the key things I have learned through my own experiences regarding the qualities that great coaches typically possess.

I am absolutely convinced that the best coaches are always great teachers. You can be a former world-class athlete and have all the technical knowledge in the world; however, if you cannot teach someone else how to do what you want them to do, you are not going to be very effective as a coach.  Take a moment and think of how many former superstar athletes have been total busts as coaches. Why do you think this is? If you are a new coach (or even an experienced one), do not make the mistake of thinking your former success as an athlete will automatically make you a great coach. 

The fact of the matter is that performing an athletic skill or playing a sport is an entirely different skill-set than teaching others how to do it. Regardless of how successful you were as an athlete, there is no way around learning how to teach if you want to be a great coach. If you are a coach and have never had any training in how to effectively teach athletic/movement based skills, you might be wondering...how do I learn this stuff? While there is not a simple and easy answer for this, there are a two specific things you can do to get on the right track.

1. You must gain a solid understanding of essential motor learning principles as this serves as the foundation for teaching athletic skills and movements effectively. If you were not able to take a college level course in this area,  I recommend at least purchasing a good motor learning textbook and there is a ton of good information on the Internet if you are savvy enough to find stuff from reputable sources. 
2. You must gain practical experience teaching others. This is best accomplished by learning under an experienced coach who is proven to be a great teacher and who can help guide you through the process. If this is not an option, you will simply have to learn through trial and error. Regardless of the route you take, it is imperative that you learn how to effectively and efficiently break down a particular skill and systematically teach it in a way that results in performance mastery. 

The best illustration I know of when it comes to a coach who was a great teacher is John Wooden. I realize that I keep coming back to him as an example but his coaching/teaching skills were second to none and his coaching record speaks for itself. If you have never done so, I highly recommend reading any one of the great books available on John Wooden's life and coaching background. In doing so, you will get a good glimpse at the masterful teaching skills he demonstrated over the course of his career. With that in mind, it is important for all of us coaches to continually hone our teaching skills in an effort to maximize the overall development of our athletes. In other words, never stop learning and growing. 

Until next time, I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday. 

Qualities of a Great Coach: Part 2

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Just about anyone who has ever been involved in athletics for any extended period of time has had at least one coach who was highly influential and made a positive difference in their life. As both an athlete and coach of multiple sports, I have been blessed to work with some dynamite coaches who have been instrumental in my own growth and development as a coach, husband and father. The fact of the matter is that coaches are oftentimes the most influential individual in a young person's life. It is a tremendous responsibility and one that I take very seriously. With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to write a series sharing some of the key things I have learned through my own experiences regarding the qualities that great coaches typically possess.

Typically, the most successful coaches across all sports are masterful at cultivating a sharp focus on the things that are under each athlete's control.  More specifically, I have found that the best coaches place a continual emphasis on attitude and effort. The fact of the matter is that these two areas are completely under the control of each and every athlete regardless of their talent level or life situation. Teams and individual athletes who truly embrace this principle typically perform very well, oftentimes better than their more naturally talented opponents.

The key to instilling this type of focus on attitude and effort is for you as the coach to define how you measure success. Obviously, winning is the benchmark we all like to use as coaches but there are so many factors outside of our control that make a winning-centered focus problematic.

I think legendary basketball coach, John Wooden, offers a much better option with his definition of success:

"Success is peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you gave your best effort to become the best of which you are capable (Biro, 2001)."

Imagine what this would look like if every individual athlete/team member demonstrated the type of attitude and effort outlined by Coach Wooden. Focusing on the things we CAN control releases us to maximize the unique gifts and talents God has blessed each of us with. The funny thing is that this type of focus almost always results in more winning. The reason why this is so is because the focus is on the daily process that makes an athlete/team great rather than just the outcome of being great. 

Despite the fact that he virtually never talked about winning with any of his teams, Coach Wooden won 664 games (.804 winning %)  including 10 national championship over the course of his NCAA coaching career. The De La Salle HS football team, who won a record 151 games in a row, is another great example of this principle put into practice. Throughout this unbelievable winning streak, the coaching staff maintained a steadfast emphasis on each athlete preparing themselves to the absolute best of their ability rather than a focus on winning more games. Obviously, winning more games was the ultimate result of this focus. 

Interestingly, you can even find an example of this principle at work in the win-at-all-costs world of professional sports. The New England Patriots have undoubtedly been the most successful professional football team in the NFL since 2001 winning four Super Bowls during this period of time. The Patriots simple team motto, "Do your job," is an excellent example of maintaining a focus on factors under each athletes control and the process of becoming successful instead of the outcome. All "Deflategate" jokes aside, it is clear that the Patriots players have done a great job in taking this motto to heart as the results speak for themselves. 

Image Credit: www.jostens.com

Ultimately, we can only do our very best with the gifts and talents God has blessed us with. It is a choice we can all make and it under our control each and every day. It is our job as coaches to help our athletes understand this principle and embrace it. In closing, one of my favorite Bible verses offers this great word of encouragement for us all:

"Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily from the soul, as something done for the Lord and not for men" ~ Colossians 3:23

Reference
Biro, B.D. (2001). Beyond success: The 15 secrets to effective leadership and life based on legendary coach John Wooden's pyramid of success. New York: Berkley.

Qualities of a Great Coach: Part 1

Qualities of a Great Coach: Part 1

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Just about anyone who has ever been involved in athletics for any extended period of time has had at least one coach who was highly influential and made a positive difference in their life. As both an athlete and coach of multiple sports, I have been blessed to work with some dynamite coaches who have been instrumental in my own growth and development as a coach, husband and father. The fact of the matter is that coaches are oftentimes the most influential individual in a young person's life. It is a tremendous responsibility and one that I take very seriously. With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to write a series sharing some of the key things I have learned through my own experiences regarding the qualities that great coaches typically possess.

The first, and most important quality in my opinion, is love. I have yet to meet an exceptional coach who does not genuinely love and care about the athletes under their leadership. The love I am talking about is similar to the love a parent has for their child. Coaches who have this kind of love for their athletes truly desire what is best for each individual and care about their overall development as a person. There is nothing wrong with desiring to win and building the best team/athlete possible; however, focusing solely on competitive success is limited in its ability to help athletes reach their maximum potential. 

More than ever before, athletes need to know that you care about them for more than just winning and building your own personal resume. This is critical in building the kind of trust and commitment needed for reaching competitive greatness. If an athlete feels that they are simply a tool for you to reach your own goals and dreams, they will never commit and put forth the effort that they would for a coach who genuinely loves them and cares about their well-being beyond their respective sport. 

In my own experience, the more I have focused on building positive relationships with my athletes and simply loving them, the more success they have achieved. I am absolutely convinced that athletes will "run through a brick wall" for you if they know you really love them and desire what is best for them as an athlete and person. If you are unsure of what it really means to love your athletes, I believe the Bible offers the best explanation possible: 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." ~ 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Loving your athletes (or people in general) is not merely a feeling, it is action and something you can choose to do each and every day. Legendary basketball coach, John Wooden, exemplified this well when he told his new players each year..."I will love you all the same, but I won't like you all the same." I challenge you as coach to reflect on where you are at in this specific area. Do you genuinely love the athletes under your leadership? If so, do they know it? If not, what can you do TODAY to change this?

Learning How to Correctly Teach the Olympic Lifts

Due to my recent move from Texas to California, it has been awhile since my last blog post as I have been dealing with all the stuff that surrounds a big move from one state to another. Now that we are pretty much settled in, I am looking forward to getting my blog back up and running. For those of you who have read my blog in the past, you will notice a shift in focus to more athletic coaching related topics. Shortly after moving, I was offered a unique opportunity at a large public high school to become the head strength and conditioning coach along with a full-time teaching position. I am excited for the opportunity to be able to focus most of my time on the coaching side of things now and look forward to sharing some of my thoughts through this blog. With that being said, I thought it would be good to start things off my providing some useful resources for any coach seeking to learn how to teach the Olympic weightlifting movements correctly.

As most coaches would agree, the Olympic weightlifting movements can be quite effective for developing the type of strength and power that transfers well to improved sport performance; however, this effectiveness is dependent on the movements being TAUGHT and PERFORMED correctly. If proper technique is taught and reinforced daily, the Olympic lifts and their derivatives are a safe and highly efficient means for building many of the physical qualities we desire in our athletes such as strength, power, mobility and kinesthetic awareness. 

As with any teaching situation, it is critical to remember that athletes will typically mimic what they see the teacher/coach demonstrate in terms of movement technique. If the demonstration is incorrect during the learning process, athletes are not going to magically figure it out and perform the movement correctly. For this reason, it is vital that the coach in charge of introducing new movements in a strength program is proficient in teaching the technical components of the Olympic lifts correctly in a group setting or have someone that is capable of doing so.  

First and foremost, I recommend that any coach seeking to teach the Olympic lifts take the Level 1 Sports Performance course offered by USA Weightlifting (the national governing body for weightlifting in the U.S.). The purpose of the course, as stated on the USAW website, is "to take all participants through complete technical progressions of the Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and all associated movements including Power Snatch, Power Clean, Power Jerk, Squat variations, and pulling progressions." This course typically includes a significant hands-on component which is essential for any coach wanting to learn how to teach these movements correctly. For more detailed information on this course, visit the following link: 

USAW Sports Performance Course Info 

If taking this course is not a feasible option, my next recommendation would be to find an experienced weightlifting coach in your area whom you could spend some time with learning the lifts and how to teach the technical components correctly. Learning under an experienced coach is actually the best route one could take but may not be realistic for every individual.  A directory of all the weightlifting clubs and coaches throughout the United States can be viewed on the USAW website at the following link: 

Weightlifting Club/Coach Directory 

Finally, if neither of the above mentioned options are possible for your situation, I recommend at least purchasing a good instructional video that will teach you the step-by-step progressions for learning and teaching the lifts. The following video is an excellent alternative: 

Olympic Weightlifting: A DVD Guide to Learning & Teaching the Olympic Lifts 

Although it does take some time to learn the technical components of the weightlifting movements and implement them into a strength and conditioning program, the payoff is well worth it for maximizing the performance of your athletes. 

CJ Del Balso - MS, CSCS, USAW National Coach 

Twitter: @cjdelbalso 

The Key Ingredient For Change

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This post comes at a bitter sweet time in which I am preparing to leave the position I have served in over the past four years to move my family out to Southern California. The time I have spent at Prince of Peace Christian School has been truly special and I appreciate the privilege of working alongside such a dynamite group of people. As I work through this process of transitioning out of my current position, I have been doing a great deal of reflection over my past twelve years in education.

In working with hundreds of different teachers over the years, there is one specific thing that I have found to be true. In my experience, teachers who are continuously learning, growing and seeking to innovate in the classroom have one particular thing in common...they genuinely desire to do what is BEST for kids. In saying this, I fully realize that the tough circumstances of life oftentimes prevent us from doing some of the things we would truly like to do. Regardless, I have found that teachers who have this motivation to do what is best for kids somehow find a way to accomplish amazing things in the classroom. I can recall many examples of teachers who have blown me away with their commitment to professional learning/growth (on their own time) and the continuous application of innovative ideas in spite of some very difficult circumstances.

With this in mind, there are three questions that I believe every educator should ask themselves...

Are the instructional methods I use the really best way to help kids learn and master what I am trying to teach or merely the method that I think is best and/or am most comfortable utilizing? 

Are my assessment methods really the best away to assess learning or simply the most convenient/easiest method? 

If I am not engaging in regular professional learning on my own, is it because I do not have the time or that I do not want to make the time a priority? 

Although these questions can be quite humbling for any of us to consider, honestly reflecting on them can help us identify what our true motivations are for why we do what we do as educators. I encourage you to take some time to carefully consider these questions. At the end of the day, if what we are doing is not what is best for kids, we must ask ourselves why we are doing it in the first place.

Part 4: Developing Responsible Technology Users

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Dan Callahan: http://flickr.com/photos/speaker4td/6967240653/

In my previous post, we discussed the importance of developing information literacy among children. Equally vital in today's society is digital citizenship. More simply, our children must know how to use digital resources in a responsible, appropriate and ethical manner.  In my opinion, the most important place for children to learn proper digital citizenship is in the home. The problem is that many parents are uneducated in this area themselves. As discussed in the first post of this series, the example set by parents and other adults of influence in a child's life will make more of an impact than anything else and this issue of digital citizenship is no exception.

While it may not be realistic for all parents to become experts on digital citizenship, it is possible to develop a basic understanding of the most important issues including Internet etiquette, respect of others' intellectual property and safety. Common Sense Media and the National Cyber Security Alliance have put together some excellent resources for families that can be accessed at the following links:

Common Sense Media: Connecting Families

Raising Digital Citizens

Within this area of digital citizenship, I want to specifically focus on the use of social media for the remainder of this post. Social media has become a mainstay in our society and it is more important than ever that our children learn how to use social media tools safely and responsibly. While kids are very comfortable using popular social media tools such as Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat etc..., very few ever receive guidance from parents in the area of social media use. In my experience, most parents take a very hands off approach in this area and let the kids figure it out on their own or worse, attempt to prevent them from using social media altogether. In this era where social media is an integral part of our daily lives, this simply cannot be. If parents do not teach children how to use social media safely and responsibly, they will probably learn from somewhere else and it is unlikely to be safe and responsible use that they learn.

The fact of the matter is that we as parents must take the lead and teach our children how to use social media safely and responsibly. We cannot allow our personal feelings toward social media diminish the need to model appropriate and productive use. Rather than avoiding or preventing the use of social media, we must come alongside our children and guide them. While there is no single correct way to handle this issue, the following action steps are ones that I have found to be particularly helpful:

1. Know what social media tools your children use - This one might seem obvious but many parents have no idea what social media services their children use. The easiest way to find out is check their mobile devices on a regular basis. The frequency in which you check a child's device may vary depending on the age and maturity level of the child; however, you as the parent have every right to know what social media services your children are using. 
2. Become familiar with the safety and privacy features available within each social media service your child uses - Each social media service typically provides their own unique safety and privacy features. Take advantage of these features as you deem appropriate. 
3. Establish clear boundaries and expectations - Social media is no different from anything else in a child's life. It is healthy for you as the parent to set clear boundaries and expectations regarding how it is used along with consistent consequences for misuse. 
4. ALWAYS model safe and responsible social media use - Connect with your children on some of the social media services they use and model the behaviors you expect. The importance of this cannot be overstated. It is imperative that children see the adult role models in their life using social media tools safely, responsibly and productively. The example you set as the parent will have a far greater impact than any other factor mentioned. 

The following are some helpful social media resources for parents:

15 Sites and Apps Kids Are Heading to Beyond Facebook

Top Social Networks & Apps Your Kids Use

A Parents' Guide to Protecting Kids' Privacy on Social Media

It is my sincere hope that this series has been helpful in equipping you with some of the basic knowledge and resources necessary to better prepare your children in becoming responsible technology users. Please feel free to comment with any questions or ideas for further discussion. 

Part 1: Leading By Example
Part 2: Setting Clear Rules & Boundaries
Part 3: Information Literacy

Part 3: Developing Responsible Technology Users

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"Information Literacy" is a common buzzword/phrase that is becoming increasingly more common in the world of education and something I believe is especially important for parents to consider in their effort to develop responsible users of technology. Before moving forward, it is necessary to recognize what this term actually means. I like the definition communicated through Wesleyan University which states: "Information literacy involves recognizing when information is needed and being able to efficiently locate, accurately evaluate, effectively use, and clearly communicate information in various formats." With this basic understanding of information literacy, parents can better evaluate whether these skills are being encouraged and developed in both school and at home. More importantly, parents must ask themselves: "Are we doing anything to help our children develop solid information literacy skills?"

In today's world where digital literacy is an essential skill, it is imperative that parents take an active role in helping their children develop the skills they need to be successful. To simplify things even further, I believe it is especially important that children develop the following skills:

1. The ability to locate information
2. The ability to analyze and evaluate the quality/credibility of information
3. The ability to organize information
4. The ability to share information

For help in learning how to better find information on the web, check out this 8-part series I created for students at our school:

Google Search Tips and Tricks

Not only is it important that children can find the information they need, they must also be able to analyze and evaluate the quality/credibility of that information. With the amount of information out there, this can be a very daunting task but it is important that parents at least have a basic understanding of how to evaluate information found on the Internet. The following resources are helpful in getting started:

Common Sense Media Tip Sheet on Research and Evaluation

Evaluating Web Information via UNC Asheville

How To Do Research via The Kentucky Virtual Library (great resource for younger kids)

Once a child has located quality information, it is important to have a place to organize and share that information. Social bookmarking tools such as Diigo are a great tool for this exact purpose. Diigo is a free cloud-based service that allows you to bookmark and annotate any resource found on the web and categorize it with specific tags for easy organization and future reference. Anything bookmarked within Diigo can also be shared with others publicly through groups. Group members can also add their own resources to the group making this a powerful collaborative research tool. For more information on Diigo, check out this brief intro video:

Diigo Intro

Collectively, these specific information literacy skills are critically important for success in today's information-rich world. Parents simply cannot afford to take a hands-off approach with these skills and assume they are being learned at school. If you are a parent (or educator), take the time to learn some of these basic skills so you can help guide your children more effectively in locating, evaluating, organizing and sharing the immense amount of information available through the web. 

In the next post, we will discuss the importance of digital citizenship and how we can better develop children who are good digital citizens on the web. If you missed Parts 1 and 2 of this series, you can check them out through the following links:

Part 1
Part 2 

Part 2: Developing Responsible Technology Users

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by Wesley Fryer: http://flickr.com/photos/wfryer/2959807121/

In Part 1 of this series, I discussed the importance of parents modeling responsible technology use in order to develop children who are responsible users themselves. Another important factor for raising responsible technology users is setting appropriate rules and boundaries in the home. This is a complex issue and there is no single best way to do things but there are some common practices I have observed over the years that seem to be particularly effective.

Most importantly, parents must first establish clear rules and boundaries guiding the use of technology in the home. In doing so, a variety of factors should be carefully considered such as family values, age, maturity, self-discipline and history with technology use. There may even be different rules for children within the same household based on the above-mentioned factors which is perfectly acceptable. Whatever the case may be, the household rules for technology use should be clearly communicated and consistently upheld.

Additionally, it is critical that parents explain the "why" behind the rules and boundaries that are being set. Children must understand why the household rules are important and how they align with your family values. If children do not understand why certain rules and boundaries are in place and how they are beneficial, it is unlikely those rules and boundaries will result in the development of lasting positive habits.

In talking with numerous parents over the past several years, one practice I have found to be particularly helpful for children is limiting screen time. In today's technology-rich world, it is easy for our children to be glued to one device or another 24/7 but this is not necessarily a healthy practice. It is important that children learn how to achieve balance in their daily life and the use of technology is no exception. The following are some practical examples, used by parents, for limiting screen time in a manner that is positive and beneficial:

• Daily "unplug time" in which everyone, including the parents, have all devices put away and silenced  (family dinners are a great time to implement this)
• Having children put away all devices in a specified location of the house at a certain time each night (helpful for parents to participate in this one)
• Encouraging participation in a variety of extra-curricular activities

Check out this fantastic resource by Common Sense Media for more ideas on limiting screen time with your children. If your child is an iPad/iPhone user, click here to find out how to set-up screen time limits using the guided access feature. 

Along with setting appropriate household rules and boundaries guiding technology use, it is important for parents to consider utilizing services such as home web filters (OpenDNS is a great option) and parental control options offered through mobile service providers. In addition, parents should be aware of the parental restrictions available on most mobile devices. For help specifically with iPad/iPhones, check out this great resource...Setting up parental controls in iOS.

While it is good to provide our children with plenty of opportunities to grow in their use of technology, this process should not be without limits. Just like anything else, providing children with computers and mobile devices without any restrictions can result in many problems if they are not ready for this type of freedom and responsibility. 

On the other end of this spectrum, overly strict controls should also be avoided as it is important that children learn how to make good choices. One thing I regularly communicate to parents is that it is easy for kids to make good choices when there are no choices to be made. If we are to develop responsible users of technology, children must learn how to make good choices and exercise self-control. The only way this will happen is if they are provided with opportunities to exhibit these behaviors. 

In the next post, I will discuss the importance of digital literacy/citizenship and how parents can help their children develop valuable knowledge and skill in these areas. 

Part 1: Developing Responsible Technology Users

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In my current position at Prince of Peace Christian School,  I frequently receive questions from parents on what they can do to help their children learn how to use technology more responsibly. While I certainly do not have all the answers for this issue, the points I am going to discuss in this series are ones that I have found to be particularly important for teaching children how to be responsible and productive technology users. The information I intend to share has been developed through my experiences over the past thirteen years working with students and their parents as both a classroom teacher and instructional technology director/coach.

The first and most important area for all parents to consider in raising responsible technology users is the example they are demonstrating on a daily basis. Parents must continually ask the question: "What am I modeling for my children?" More simply, if you as a parent desire your children to be responsible users of technology, YOU must model the behaviors and habits you expect out of your children. More often than not, children will follow the lead of their parents and the use of technology is no exception. When parents approach me with concerns regarding poor, undesirable and/or inappropriate uses of technology among their children, the above-mentioned question is usually the first one I ask as it is the most important starting point for change. 

In attempting to raise responsible technology users, parents must also consider their general attitudes towards technology that are being conveyed to the children. A great example of this involves parents who are overly fearful or reluctant to use technology. When I encounter students who seem hesitant to embrace new technology and/or have limited technology skills for their age and maturity level, I typically find that they have parents who model these same behaviors and attitudes. 

Another common situation I encounter is parents who are overly permissive and oblivious regarding the ways in which their children utilize technology. In contrast to the first example, children in this situation tend to be relatively savvy with technology because their parents provide them with all the latest devices; however, they rarely have any idea how to utilize these tools responsibly since little to no guidance is being provided by the parents. Neither approach is effective but both are good examples of how children follow the lead of their parents. With all that being said, it is critical that parents carefully consider whether the example they are modeling, in terms of technology use, is positive or negative.

As we continue to discuss important issues involving the development of responsible technology users, I encourage you to check out and bookmark the dynamite resource below provided by Common Sense Media. This is one of the absolute best resources to help parents stay educated and prepared to handle the the most common technology issues affecting children. 

Common Sense Media Family Toolbox

In the next post, we will discuss some best practices for setting appropriate guidelines and boundaries that are helpful for developing children who are responsible technology users. 

Time

Each and every day is comprised of 86,400 seconds, 1,440 minutes and 24 hours. Regardless of how you choose to break down your day, we all have exact same amount of time at our disposal making time the great equalizer. In working with a wide variety of individuals over the years, I have met people who seem to magically add an extra hour to their day and others who simply waste an amazing amount of time each day. You can probably guess who the more successful individuals were.

In looking back at my experiences as a teacher, coach and administrator, one of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear the proverbial "I don't have time" excuse. Whether it is taking on a new commitment, trying something new or simply completing a needed task, the "I don't have time" excuse is one that comes up often. With that being said, I will be the first to admit that I too have been guilty of making this excuse on numerous occasions. As an example, I have wanted to start this blog for a long time but have procrastinated due to a "lack of time." Although I find myself making this excuse less and less as I have grown and matured over the years, it is still an easy trap to fall into when demands for our time seem overwhelming.

The fact of the matter is that we all ultimately make time for what is truly important to us. No matter how busy I am or how little time I seem to have, I always find a way to make time for the things I REALLY want to do. If we are truly being honest with ourselves, we all do this. The real issue then is not so much that we do not have the time to do something, it is that the activity or commitment in question is not a priority to us.

Coming to this realization can make a profound difference in the way we prioritize our time and take on new commitments. Taking an honest look at how our time is spent each day will typically reveal that we have more time available than previously thought. The fact that I am finally starting this blog is not due to having more time available, it because it is a priority to me and I am making the time to get it done. Moving forward, I encourage you to be honest with yourself and others in regards to what you really have time for in your personal and professional life. Remember, we always have time for what is truly important to us.

By Sun Ladder (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Important Lesson Learned From Fatherhood

On July 4, 2014, I was blessed with the privilege of becoming a new father to a precious little four year old girl whom my wife and I welcomed into our home through the process of adoption. Our daughter, Chassity, is our first child so we are both very new to the role of a parent and all that this tremendous responsibility involves.

In the four months since Chassity came into our home, I have learned a great deal personally and have a new found appreciation for all that a parent goes through with a child. One specific thing I have been most surprised with is how observant children are of everything that their parents do. It is amazing how fast our daughter has picked up on habits and mannerisms my wife and I have and is repeating them regularly. It really makes you think twice about the things you say and do in front of your children.  

This experience has prompted me to rethink the powerful influence teachers and coaches have over children each and every day. With the amount of time that children spend at school and extracurricular activities, it is certain that they are carefully observing their adult role models at school just as much or more than their parents. If you are like me, I am sure you have found yourself (at least once) engaging in the very thing you hate to see your own children/students doing. With this in mind, it is incredibly important for all of us in education to consider the example we are setting on a daily basis. 

In my opinion, the greatest blessing of being an educator and coach is the opportunity to make a positive and lasting difference in the life of a child. The example we set is instrumental in determining whether this difference is positive or negative. This prompts us all (myself included) to ask some important questions such as...

What kind of example am I REALLY setting for the kids under my care and leadership?

Are my daily behaviors and actions ones that I would be proud of my students/athletes repeating?

Am I modeling, on a daily basis, the character traits I would want to see from the young people I lead?

Do I demonstrate a consistent and genuine love for each of the kids under my care regardless of their behavior or background? 

God has blessed all of us in education with a powerful platform to influence kids. Ultimately, what we do will be far more powerful than anything we say in determining how effective this influence is. As the old saying goes..."Actions speak louder than words." I wish you all the best in this ongoing challenge of making a positive difference in the life of a child. God Bless!

My Top 5 iPad Apps for the Classroom Series: Explain Everything

Image Credit: http://www.morriscooke.com/

The use of iPads in schools has grown tremendously over the past few years. It seems like every week you hear of a new school or district starting a new to 1 to 1 iPad program. With that in mind, I thought it would be a helpful to share some of the insights I have gained since the launch of my school's 1 to 1 iPad program two years ago. One question that constantly comes up when discussing iPads in schools involves what apps are best for the classroom. With the endless number of apps available, this can be a very daunting question.

A key point that helps sort through this mess involves a focus on apps that allow creation. Oftentimes, teachers get bogged down with trying to find apps that support and deliver content; however, these apps seldom require much in the way of higher order thinking skills as they typically involve simple drill and practice tasks. Education Week has an excellent blog post from February 2013 that sums up this issue very nicely... All the Good Apps Fit on One Screen. As mentioned by the author, a focus on creation apps can be very liberating for a teacher as it eliminates the need to stay up-to-date with the endless number of content focused apps available. Additionally, creation apps possess much greater potential to positively impact learning and the development of 21st Century Skills such as creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking.

With all that being said, I have put together a list of the top 5 apps I would recommend for anyone using iPads in the classroom. The fifth and final app on my list is Explain Everything. Of the five apps on my list, Explain Everything is definitely my favorite. The developer of this app, MorrisCooke, describes it as a "unique interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool" but this is a rather humble description. If you are someone who is looking for a versatile tool for creating and editing multimedia presentations and screencasting videos, Explain Everything is the tool for you. The following are some of the key features that make Explain Everything a dynamite tool for the classroom:

• Capability to insert any type of file, video or image into a project
• Versatile drawing features that allows you to draw or annotate on anything within a project including video
• Easy to use video editing tools including the ability to redo specific portions of a recording (this is a unique feature that most screencasting apps for the iPad do not offer)
• Ability to zoom and pan to display as much or little that you need on the screen
• Integration with almost every major cloud storage service making it super easy to export and share projects

To learn more on how to use Explain Everything, check out the following tutorials I created for students new to the app at my school.

For what Explain Everything offers in terms of functionality, its $2.99 cost is an absolute steal. In my opinion, this is the most useful overall app on the iPad for both teachers and students and I highly recommend it. Purchasing Explain Everything will be the best $2.99 you ever spend for your iPad. You can purchase the app and read more info about it here: Explain Everything. 

If you missed Parts 1 through 4 of this series, you can view them at the following links: 

Notability

Pages

Keynote

iMovie 

Although the five apps I have shared in this series are certainly not the only great apps available for the iPad, they are ones that I have found to be particularly useful for the classroom. Please feel free to share any other apps that you have found to be especially good or simply share your own top 5 list. 

My Top 5 iPad Apps for the Classroom Series: iMovie

Image Credit: https://www.apple.com/ios/imovie/ 

The use of iPads in schools has grown tremendously over the past few years. It seems like every week you hear of a new school or district starting a new to 1 to 1 iPad program. With that in mind, I thought it would be a helpful to share some of the insights I have gained since the launch of my school's 1 to 1 iPad program two years ago. One question that constantly comes up when discussing iPads in schools involves what apps are best for the classroom. With the endless number of apps available, this can be a very daunting question.

A key point that helps sort through this mess involves a focus on apps that allow creation. Oftentimes, teachers get bogged down with trying to find apps that support and deliver content; however, these apps seldom require much in the way of higher order thinking skills as they typically involve simple drill and practice tasks. Education Week has an excellent blog post from February 2013 that sums up this issue very nicely... All the Good Apps Fit on One Screen. As mentioned by the author, a focus on creation apps can be very liberating for a teacher as it eliminates the need to stay up-to-date with the endless number of content focused apps available. Additionally, creation apps possess much greater potential to positively impact learning and the development of 21st Century Skills such as creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking.

With all that being said, I have put together a list of the top 5 apps I would recommend for anyone using iPads in the classroom. The fourth app on my list is the video production/editing app, iMovie, created by Apple. If you are looking for a simple but highly effective tool that you or your students can use for creating and editing movies on the iPad, iMovie is an outstanding option. One of the major advantages of the iPad for school, as opposed to a traditional laptop, is the ability to easily take pictures and record video. This makes an app such as iMovie highly important as it allows users to take any content stored on the camera roll and use it for producing more creative and professional looking videos. Below are some the most notable features that make iMovie an outstanding video creation/editing tool: 

• Simple and intuitive user interface 
• Extremely easy to insert existing pictures and video from camera roll into movie project
• New pictures, video and audio recordings can be captured and inserted directly into a movie project from within the app
• Includes a variety of built in themes and special effects that can be added to any movie
• Allows any song in your iTunes library to be inserted into a video 
• Offers a robust set of features for editing each audio and video clip within a movie project
• Easy upload options to YouTube and Vimeo
• Includes a movie trailer option that allows users to create Hollywood style movie previews (check out this great example from one of our 6th grade teachers)

*Video courtesy of @ShellRGrant

If you are completely new to iMovie, check out this tutorial I created for users unfamiliar with the app. In case you are wondering while watching the tutorial video, I am also an Olympic weightlifting coach which is why I used video footage of my athletes. Typically, I use iMovie on my iPad to create highlight videos of our team following major competitions so I can personally attest to iMovie's effectiveness for producing high quality videos. 

It is important to know that iMovie, along with every app in the iWork suite for iOS, is free with the purchase of a new iPad. If you are not eligible to download it for free, the normal cost is $4.99 but it is well worth it if you would like to have a quality video creation/editing app for your iPad. If you would like to download Keynote or view more detailed info on it, visit the following link: iMovie

If you are familiar with another video creation/editing app for the iPad that is comparable or even better than iMovie, feel to comment and share your recommendation. It is always helpful to know about the different options available. In the next post, we will review the final app in my top 5 list....Explain Everything.

If you missed Parts 1 through 3 of this series, you can view them at the following links: 

Notability
Pages
Keynote

Have a blessed week! 

My Top 5 iPad Apps for the Classroom Series: Keynote

Image Credit: https://www.apple.com/ios/keynote/ 

The use of iPads in schools has grown tremendously over the past few years. It seems like every week you hear of a new school or district starting a new to 1 to 1 iPad program. With that in mind, I thought it would be a helpful to share some of the insights I have gained since the launch of my school's 1 to 1 iPad program two years ago. One question that constantly comes up when discussing iPads in schools involves what apps are best for the classroom. With the endless number of apps available, this can be a very daunting question.

A key point that helps sort through this mess involves a focus on apps that allow creation. Oftentimes, teachers get bogged down with trying to find apps that support and deliver content; however, these apps seldom require much in the way of higher order thinking skills as they typically involve simple drill and practice tasks. Education Week has an excellent blog post from February 2013 that sums up this issue very nicely... All the Good Apps Fit on One Screen. As mentioned by the author, a focus on creation apps can be very liberating for a teacher as it eliminates the need to stay up-to-date with the endless number of content focused apps available. Additionally, creation apps possess much greater potential to positively impact learning and the development of 21st Century Skills such as creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking.

With all that being said, I have put together a list of the top 5 apps I would recommend for anyone using iPads in the classroom. The third app on my list is the presentation app, Keynote, created by Apple. Anyone who has used Keynote for the Mac knows it is a fantastic program for creating presentations and the iPad app is no exception. Like the other apps in the iWork suite for the iPad, Keynote is very easy and intuitive for users of all ages to navigate.  In my opinion, it offers the most robust set of features for creating and editing presentations on the iPad. Below are some of the key features to be aware of: 

• Simple and intuitive user interface
• Automatic iCloud back-up 
• Great selection of slide animations and transitions
• Built-in image enhancement capability
• Ability to insert professional charts and graphs 
• Helpful presentation tools including a highlighter which allows the presenter to highlight specific areas of a slide during a live presentation in addition to a laser pointer tool
• Variety of easy to use sharing options including AirDrop for iOS users
• Microsoft Office compatibility allows users to import PowerPoint presentations for further editing or export new presentations out as PowerPoint files
• Ability to collaborate with other users on the same presentation through shared iCloud links

If you have never used Keynote on the iPad before, check out this brief tutorial I created for students new to the app at our school. 

The best news of all is that Keynote, along with every app in the iWork suite, is free with the purchase of a new iPad. If you are not eligible to download it for free, the normal cost is $9.99 but it is well worth it if you would like to have a quality presentation app for your iPad. If you would like to download Keynote or view more detailed info on it, visit the following link: Keynote

If you are familiar with another presentation app for the iPad that is comparable or even better than Pages, feel to comment and share your recommendation. It is always helpful to know about the different options available. In the next post, we will review the next app in my top 5 list....iMovie.

If you missed Part 1 or 2 of this series, you can view them at the following links: 

Notability
Pages

Have a great week!