School Leaders' Perspectives on What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches - Part II

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I had the opportunity to interview numerous high-profile, highly successful coaches at the high school, NCAA and Olympic levels. As I began getting feedback on the book from educators, I realized there were plenty of school leaders with wisdom to contribute on this topic. Inspired to seek more expert advice on the topic, I asked a number of former coaches who now serve in school leadership positions to weigh in on the following question: What lesson or principle about teaching that you learned while coaching do you most frequently emphasize with your teachers? 

If the wisdom below strikes a chord with you, be sure to reach out to the individuals and let them know. I'd also to encourage you to build your PLN by following them on Twitter.

What lesson or principle about teaching that you learned while coaching do you most frequently emphasize with your teachers?

Brett Howard @brethoward33

If you are average, you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top. Who wants to be average?

Mike Zavada @mikezavada

You have to be persistent and positive in your language.  Best teachers and coaches will have students who are able to repeat back language used to describe certain skills 20 years later. These catch phrases repeated over and over ingrain a mental picture of the outcome expected.  This is an essential teaching/coaching skill.  Also, the more consistent you are, the better teacher or coach you will be.

Jon Bosworth @bosworth.jb

Organization and communication need to happen first.

Lucas Leavitt @Lucas_Leavitt

The importance of explicit instruction and repeated practice is vital. As a tennis coach, initial explicit instruction is mandatory to be able to help players learn the correct mechanics of each stroke. Without repeated practice, the muscle memory will not be able to take place and these strokes will not become second nature to the players. This is exactly the same in teaching. Teachers must be taught explicitly how to use specific strategies or methodologies and then need to be provided opportunities for repeated practice where corrective feedback can be given.

Michael McDonough @msquaredbhs

I learned that fair doesn't mean equal. John Wooden wrote about that. If you are working with a student or having to discipline then you should have a fair reaction. It doesn't mean that it's equal to another person who may have done the same (or similar) action. A coach handles different players differently, motivates differently, yet is fair.

School Leaders' Perspectives on What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches - Part I

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I had the opportunity to interview numerous high-profile, highly successful coaches at the high school, NCAA and Olympic levels. As I began getting feedback on the book from educators, I realized there were plenty of school leaders with wisdom to contribute on this topic. Inspired to seek more expert advice on the topic, I asked a number of former coaches who now serve in school leadership positions to weigh in on the following question: What lesson or principle about teaching that you learned while coaching do you most frequently emphasize with your teachers? I've listed the first of their answers below (more to follow soon).

If the wisdom below resonates with you - and I believe it will - be sure to reach out to the individuals and let them know. I'd also to encourage you to build your PLN by following them on Twitter.

What lesson or principle about teaching that you learned while coaching do you most frequently emphasize with your teachers?

Brian Knight @principal_SMS
Work Ethic/Perseverance - I often ask my staff: Is your work ethic on par with your classroom goals? We all want to be successful, but are we really willing to commit to what it takes to be successful. Success is not an accident; it is a choice. You must be willing to put in the needed time if you want true success in your classroom. You must be willing to try, even if you might not find immediate success. Failure is not the opposite of success; it is a vital part of it. As teachers we must model this for our students. We must learn from mistakes, and become better because of them. If your players are scared to make mistakes they will never push themselves as hard as they could. Similarly, in learning if we are not willing to take some risks we will never learn as much as we could. You must be willing to try; we must be willing to do; we must be willing to put in the time and effort it takes to be successful.

Robert Sain @saintroop
1. We can only control our attitude and our effort.
2. Do the next right thing right.
We cannot control others whether it be an opposing team, students in a class, or faculty members. We can only control us. Our attitude and effort must set the pace and keep a high bar for all around us. Each person giving their best attitude and effort combined with a continual focus on doing the next right thing right can provide any school with a large amount of horsepower. 

Art Sathoff @sathofar
Putting the time in, motivating others, doing what you say you'll do, cause greater than yourself

Valarie Farrow @valariefarrow
Looking back, I would say differentiation. I remember even in my early years telling players during practice if they didn't understand something to ask a teammate. I was/am not an auditory learner and a coach giving verbal directions paled in comparison to visual and kinesthetic learning.

Justin Smith @TXJustinSmith
Leading faculty is similar to coaching in that a team-first approach is necessary in order to approach the highest collective potential. Great coaches focus on team chemistry (work environment), togetherness (culture), and inspiring great individual work ethic (professional development). As it is in all group settings, a leader effectively empowers those in his or her charge by personalizing the work, supporting the individuals by meeting them at their readiness levels, and setting high standards of excellence that are equitable for all. A strong leader has a high level of competency in his or her role, yet understands that high levels of emotional and social intelligence are imperative when leading people. Not all athletes respond well to the same critiques, nor do teachers when provided feedback. Therefore, to effectively lead a group of individuals, a coach or principal must really understand how to motivate each and every member of the team the way in which they will respond and move towards their greatest self.

This is the first of a series of posts in which I will share what other educators shared with me, Check back soon for the next post.

Excerpt from What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches - The Game Has Changed

Below is an excerpt from my newest book, What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, to give readers an idea of what the book really is about. I hope you enjoy the excerpt and I hope you'll consider picking up or downloading a copy of the book.

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What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches
by Nathan Barber
Copyright 2014, Routledge/Eye on Education
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“Athletes and people are happiest when they are improving… You are either getting better or you are getting worse… I find it really tough at any level, but especially with an Olympian that’s no longer getting any better and not improving… we have to deal with some tough stuff. We do whatever we can – with technology, with feedback, with multiple coaches coming from different angles – to keep them improving, because that’s when they are performing at their best.” Marv Dunphy, member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame, Five-Time NCAA National Champion as Head Coach of Pepperdine University Men’s Volleyball, and Gold Medal Winner as Head Coach of the 1988 Olympic Team

The Game Has Changed…

            The game has changed. What game, you ask? Well, virtually every game in the modern sports world has changed since its inception. For some sports, rules have changed, gameplay has changed, equipment has changed, scoring has changed and even the length of the season has changed. The three point line in basketball, the designated hitter in baseball, and the forward pass in football each have irreversibly changed their respective sports. For other sports, the players today are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before, and the very nature of those particular sports have been forever altered because of the changes in the athletes. Usain Bolt in track and field, Lionel Messi in soccer, Tiger Woods in golf, Michael Phelps in swimming, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Brittney Griner in basketball have elevated the level of “excellence” to new heights in their respective sports. Additionally, many nuances of the major sports have changed.

            To be a successful in the sports world today, a good coach must understand change. He not only must acknowledge that his sport changes but also must take measures to keep up with the changes. He must be willing to change his practice approach and his game plan. He must be willing to approach players differently. He must be willing to approach every aspect of the game differently. If there is a coach today using the same approach, same game plan and same practice plan he did twenty years ago, chances are that his program ranks somewhere other than at the top. Because rules, equipment, scoring and even players have changed through the years, no good coach would stubbornly resist change and refuse to stay current. Imagine a basketball coach running the same plays he used before the introduction of the three-point line.

A good coach works hard to stay on top of how his particular sport continues to change or he simply gets passed by. An NCAA or National Football League defensive coordinator better put in extra time to understand how the New Orleans Saints and the Baylor Bears, engineered by Sean Payton and Art Briles, respectively, have changed the game of football offensively. A National Hockey League coach better work hard to find a way to approach Ken Hitchcock’s frustrating, defense-first style of hockey. Coaches who do not keep up with other programs’ innovations will become obsolete very quickly.

            As with the world of sports, the world of education has changed. Historically, education has changed very little until very recently. The stand-and-deliver model of teaching by lecture dominated education for centuries, dating back to the advent of universities hundreds of years ago. Even late into the 20^th century and beyond, such obsolete pedagogy has managed to hang on for dear life in some schools even though the world outside the classroom walls has been changing at an incredible rate. In recent years however, the rules of education have changed, the art of teaching has changed, scoring and assessment have changed, the length of the days and years have changed, and even the students have changed. Imagine a teacher teaching science the way she taught it in the 1970s, or history, or art. Inconceivable! For a good teacher, these changes present opportunities to change with the times and explore new and exciting best practices.

            A good teacher understands that both teaching and learning have changed. Whereas classrooms once were cutting edge with one Apple IIe for students to share, many classrooms today have tablets or laptops in every student’s hands. Classrooms of days gone by used sticks of chalk with chalk boards or black boards, while today’s classrooms often boast interactive whiteboards. Blended classes, digital textbooks, state standardized testing, increasingly competitive college admissions, scores of proprietary curriculum choices, Advanced Placement courses and more have changed not only what teachers teach but how they teach. Similarly, what students learn and how they learn have changed. Research has shown repeatedly that the one-size-fits-all assembly-line method of educating students used so much throughout the 20^th century leads to disinterest and disengagement with 21^st century kids.

A good teacher recognizes that today’s students differ even from students ten years ago. Today’s students are more plugged in than ever. Today’s students have different life goals than students a generation ago. Today’s students face a future that is more uncertain than ever before and employment statistics that are far from encouraging. As a result, what students need in the classroom varies greatly from what students needed in past generations. A good teacher changes her game plan, or lesson plans, to accommodate these changing needs. Because students’ needs have changed and because the ways students’ learn best have changed, a good teacher stays current on changes in teaching and learning by reading, researching, observing others and experimenting with new approaches.

            A good teacher, unafraid to change with the times, rewrites his game plan as often as necessary in order to stay current with best practices. In terms of teaching quality, experience can be priceless. As recent research shows, however, there exists no direct correlation between teacher experience and teacher effectiveness. This largely results from career educators’ inability or desire not to change and update their game plans to give todays’ students what they need. The best teacher in any given building may or may not be the most experienced teacher. The best teacher in the building, though, will not be the one using the same yellowed notes he used three decades ago. The best teacher in the building will not be the one using the same exams he used back when mimeograph machines with purple toner were all the rage. The best teacher in the building will not be the one who has memorized all the lectures and can deliver them with no notes or outlines in front of him. As with coaches who hold on too long to the old ways of doing things, quite possibly, the game of teaching has passed some of these teachers by, thus rendering them obsolete in the 21^st century classroom. The best teacher in the building, regardless of years of experience, does what all good teachers do: he evaluates his game plan often and rewrites his game plan as often as necessary to accommodate the changing needs of the students and the changing landscape of the real world and does not cling to obsolete pedagogies.

            Perhaps baseball coach John Cohen of Mississippi State University sums this up best. Having led his Bulldogs to not only the College World Series finals in 2013 but also to the most wins in program history in a season, Cohen understands that change and evolution are crucial to continued success. He says of his own coaching and teaching journey, “… the six most dangerous words in the English language: We’ve always done it this way. That’s dangerous because the world is changing. If we were doing it the same way that I was doing it as a young coach 20 years ago, we’d be doing the program a huge disservice. It’s a challenge to make sure you’re constantly evolving.” As Cohen will testify, the challenge certainly is worth it, for you and for those you teach.

Keeping mind that the game has changed, and will continue to change, the obvious question is, “Will you?”

Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays on the Importance of Focusing on the Process

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard from a number of incredible coaches a pretty clear message about the importance of the process in teaching and learning. Specifically, several of the coaches told me that a key element of their success over the years has been focusing more on the process and less on the results. By focusing on the process (individual and team growth and development) with their players, and by coaching the athletes and teams toward mastery rather than performance (stats, scores and wins), the coaches have been able to improve the quality of individual and team performances. Perhaps that sounds counter-intuitive, but the evidence lies in the national championships and Olympic medals these coaches have accumulated.

I recently discovered a great quote by Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon (I did not obtain this personally for my book)  that summarizes this approach to process-focused coaching and teaching: "What I'm trying to convince them is, you're not trying to beat the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Blue Jays, you're trying to beat the game of baseball through execution." Maddon nailed it. This approach works equally well for baseball, hockey and soccer, as it does for writing, calculus and second languages. Just as Maddon has led his team into the playoffs and into the World Series by focusing on mastering baseball rather than focusing on beating particular teams, teachers, too, can lead their classes to success by focusing on mastering writing, calculus and language, rather than focusing on test scores.

Don Meyer Quotes That Have Meaning for Coaches and Teachers Alike

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I discovered numerous quotes from successful coaches on the topics of teaching and learning. Below are a handful of thoughtful quotes from the late Don Meyer, who is widely known as a master teacher. Some of the quotes below appear to be about basketball only. However, each quote below holds significant meaning for the classroom and the classroom teacher, for teaching and for learning.

It is foolish to expect a young man to follow your advice and to ignore your example.

You have to learn things in every game... the games have to be the ultimate learning experience.

Your program must have an overriding purpose, which is clearly visible, which teaches lessons beyond winning.

Treat everyone with the utmost respect, and most of all have patience when you teach.

Every situation is an opportunity for growth.

Our example isn't the main thing in influencing others, it's the only thing.

It's not what you achieve, it's what you become.

Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?

Shout praise and whisper criticism.

A rock never shines because it absorbs light, but a mirror will because it reflects it. Are you a rock or a mirror?

Be who you are... everybody can spot a phony.

What you accept in victory, you must accept in defeat.

Focus not on the results but on the process, says Sean Fleming

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard over and over from successful coaches that their greatest point of emphasis in teaching and instruction every season is the process not the results. This philosophy falls right in line with emphasizing mastery over performance. Furthermore, Carol Dweck's research on a growth mindset entirely supports this approach to teaching and coaching.

Pete Carril Quotes on Teaching and Learning

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I discovered numerous quotes from successful coaches on the topics of teaching and learning. Below are a handful of great quotes from Pete Carril, former Princeton University basketball coach now with the Kings, who is recognized by many as a master teacher. Some of the quotes below appear to be about basketball only. However, each quote below can easily be translated into meaningful classroom practice.

The smart take from the strong.

In trying to learn to do a specific thing, the specific thing is what you must practice.

Teach a guy fundamentals and he can play anywhere.

Try not to talk too much about shooting. Spend the time instead taking a lot of shots.

Anybody can know the facts about something, but knowing how to do it is what's crucial.

The high school coach who does not make his players learn and practice should be arrested.

If they learn to do things right, or well, that gets to be the way they do things.

It is a mistake we all make as coaches to think that there is only one way of doing something.

When you teach basketball, it has its technical parts and its life parts.

Go slow so they can learn fast.

If you watch what your players are doing when they play, they will show you what to teach them.

In trying to learn to do a specific thing, the specific thing is what you must practice.

Anybody can know the facts about something, but knowing how to do it is what's crucial.

John Wooden Quotes on Teaching and Learning

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I discovered numerous quotes from successful coaches on the topics of teaching and learning. Below are a handful of great quotes from John Wooden, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, who was recognized by many as a master teacher.

"I believe it's impossible to claim you have taught, when there are students who have not learned."

"If I am through learning, I am through."

"Pay attention to the details and the big things will take care of themselves."

"I deeply believed that the teacher and coach who has the ability to properly plan... from both the daily and the long-range point of view together with the ability to devise the necessary drills to meet his particular needs for maximum efficiency, has tremendously increased his possibility of success."

"They are all different ... There is no formula ... You can't work with them exactly the same way."

"Over-coaching can be more harmful than under-coaching. Keep it simple!"

"If we, as coaches, aren't teachers, we are nothing."

"When everyone has good players, #teaching will be a telling difference."

"When I was coaching I always considered myself a teacher. Teachers tend to follow the laws of learning better than coaches who do not have any teaching background. A coach is nothing more than a teacher. I used to encourage anyone who wanted to coach to get a degree in teaching so they could apply those principles to athletics."

"It is difficult for young players to learn - because of the great emphasis on records - but, ideally, the joy and frustration of sport should come from the performance itself, not the score. While he is playing, the worst thing a player can think about in terms of concentration - and therefore of success - is losing. The next worst is winning."

"The purpose of discipline is not to punish, but to correct."

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"Decisions are more apt to be accepted when you've listened to suggestions first. I wanted them to see the reason behind what I asked of them, not to do things just because I said so."

"Learn as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow."

“The coach is first of all a teacher.”

Join the conversation about coaching and teaching on social media using #coachteach.

A Lesson for Educators: John Wooden on Why Focus on the Process is More Important Than Focus on Results

"It is difficult for young players to learn - because of the great emphasis on records - but, ideally, the joy and frustration of sport should come from the performance itself, not the score. While he is playing, the worst thing a player can think about in terms of concentration - and therefore of success - is losing. The next worst is winning.”

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden sums up nicely a concept that has taken hold of me and won’t let go. In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard from a number of incredible coaches this same message: the worst thing a player can do is focus less on the process and more on the outcome, results or score.

Consider this analogy. A basketball player who steps to the free throw line and focuses on either making or missing the free throw has severely handicapped himself; his focus has shifted from shooting a free throw correctly to an outcome over which he has no control. In truth, even the greatest free throw shooter cannot control whether the basketball falls through the rim. What a player can control, however, is the process of shooting a free throw. Feet, knees, elbow, wrist, fingers, form, shot, follow-through, etc. A great coach teaches a player to remain focused on the process of shooting, not on makes and misses. A player can control the process, and in fact can trust in the process which he’s practiced, learned and perhaps mastered, but he cannot control the outcome.

The irony of focusing on the process rather than on the outcome or results is that the closer a player is to mastering the process, the greater the likelihood of the desired outcome becoming reality. There exists here a direct correlation to education. Because of the “great emphasis on records,” as Wooden says, or on scores, performances, grades and other quantitative so-called measures of learning, schools, teachers and students easily can lose sight of education’s true goal – mastery – and focus instead on outcomes and results.

Consider this analogy. An AP US History student spends the entire school year focused on earning a 4 or a 5, then on the day of the AP exam stresses about what her score will be. The student, focusing on an outcome over which she has no control, has handicapped herself heading into the exam. What the student could have controlled all year, however, is the process of mastering the AP US History content universe along with the reading, writing and critical thinking skills emphasized in the classroom by a great teacher. If this student focused and relied on the process, which she practiced, learned and perhaps mastered, she would put herself in the best possible position to achieve the desired outcome or results.

With the heavy emphasis on performance and scores in both athletics and in education, we have lost sight of the importance of mastery and the process. Wooden enjoyed more desirable outcomes – NCAA national championships – than any other NCAA basketball coach in history. He did so, though, by focusing on the process rather than on the outcomes or scores. Wooden's emphasis on the process played out on both a micro level (i.e. free throws) and a macro level (i.e. wins and championships) and his players reaped the benefits. Educators today should steal a page from Wooden’s playbook and consider the significance and potential benefits of focusing on the process and mastery rather than on results, performance and scores. Furthermore, to paraphrase Wooden, the "joy and frustration" of learning should come from the process, "not the score."

In my next post I will address Wooden's thought, "ideally, the joy and frustration of sport should come from the *performance itself, not the score."

*It is worth noting that Wooden uses the word performance in this quote to mean the game itself, not the final outcome of the game.

For all the teachers and coaches who serve as Father for so many kids...

On Building a Culture of Success

On Setting Standards for Kids

Teaching Bell to Bell AND Wire to Wire

I watched more than my fair share of NCAA men's and women's basketball games during the 2014 March Madness. Though my bracket didn't last past the first few games and my teams didn't make it to the Final Four, I was reminded of a pretty valuable lesson for teachers and coaches.

In game after game, I noticed that the best coaches coached hard, teaching every opportunity they encountered, regardless of whether they were winning or losing, and regardless of whether they were up or down by a few points or many. This speaks volumes. It's easy to understand how and why a coach would be fully invested and coaching hard with 30 seconds to go in a close game. It's much more interesting, though, to watch a coach fully invested in his or her team up or down by 20 points or with a lineup full of bench players. It's a safe bet that these coaches, the ones who teach and coach hard buzzer to buzzer, also teach and coach hard wire to wire, or from the beginning of the season right up until the final buzzer of the final game.

The best classroom teachers teach bell to bell and the best administrators expect bell to bell teaching from their teachers. The best classroom teachers also teach wire to wire. Almost all teachers begin each school year with renewed passion for teaching, renewed enthusiasm, excitement, etc. The end of the year, those last several weeks when seniors develop senioritis and the rest of the kids start dreaming of summer vacation, really separates the best teachers from the rest because the best are determined to teach wire to wire. The best teachers don't add in video after video for the last few weeks of school to wind down the year, but rather increase their own efforts to keep kids engaged and maximize every remaining minute of the school year. It might be tempting for teachers to take it down a notch after state testing or AP exams, but the best teachers go bell to bell and wire to wire.

Be sure to look for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches: A Playbook of Instructional Strategies from Routledge/Eye on Education coming in August, 2014. To join the conversation, use #coachteach on Twitter and Facebook.

What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches

“What’s the difference between great teachers and great coaches? In this compelling book, Nathan Barber proves that you can’t be one without the other.” Annette Breaux

“Nathan Barber draws on the wisdom and experience of some of the best teachers in sports and translates that wisdom into best practices for your classroom.” Kim Mulkey

What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches: A Playbook of Instructional Strategies (From Routledge/Eye on Education Publishers) The strategies used by winning coaches on the field can bring success to classrooms, too. In What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, you’ll discover that the athletic arena and the classroom have more in common than you think. Author Nathan Barber demonstrates how many of the principles of coaching can be used by teachers to motivate students, build community and enhance teaching.

Strategies in the book include:

• Communicate Effectively
• Make Work Meaningful
• Embrace Technology
• Build a Winning Tradition
• Teach Life Lessons
• Seek Continual Improvement

Teachers, administrators and coaches from any and all grade levels and subject areas will find valuable insight into and wisdom related to some of the instructional strategies today’s greatest coaches use to build great players and successful teams.

For months, I personally collected wisdom from some of the greatest coaches in the US and some from around the world. Included in the list of coaches are Olympic medalists, NCAA national champion coaches, state champion coaches, national team coaches, and all-time winningest coaches. Additionally, the two forewords have been written by nationally-known educational guru Annette Breaux and two-time NCAA champion coach Kim Mulkey. I will release more info soon about the other amazing coaches who contributed to this book. The editors currently are working on cover art, advance praise and book reviewers. (If you are interested in providing a blurb or doing a book review, please contact me.

The book already is listed at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as on Goodreads. (The current cover art and prices are simply placeholders and do not reflect the final art and pricing). To get the most recent updates, you can Like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. As the release date of August, 2014, gets closer, I'll share more information about this project, about my journey from blank page to final draft, and about the fascinating insight into coaching and teaching I've picked up along the way from some amazing coaches. This project will spawn a number of articles, blog posts and more.

Thanks for your interest in What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches: A Playbook of Instructional Strategies.

Updated 3-22-14