On Wednesday, March 6th - Saturday, March 9th, I enjoyed another perk of working at an International School in the PE Department. Though I miss the classroom quite a lot sometimes, this is definitely a bonus in teaching PE
that I'm going to take advantage of before I make the switch back to the
classroom. Before I go into details about the trip, I feel I oughta share the pros and cons of such a gig:
Pros:
-I get a break from teaching.
-I (in most cases) get to go visit a new place.
-I get to know a new group of students.
-I sit down most of the day and relax.
-When I'm not sitting down and relaxing, I'm cheering and getting pumped for the team I'm chaperoning.
-I get to stay in a hotel that sometimes has a tub...I don't have one at home so that's always nice.
-I get to meet other coaches and chaperones from other schools and 'network' with them...which almost always includes having a drink or two, eating good food and hearing some great new stories...of course, the students are all with their housing families by this point!
-On the same note as above, I meet people that know other people I work and/or worked with and get to hear stories about them...to be used for professionally blackmailing down the road! :P
-I get to practice my education from 2003-2005 while I (sometimes) tape ankles or visit other injuries that may occur during the sporting event.
-I'm merely a chaperone, meaning I don't have the same responsibilities for the students as the coach does when he/she is getting them ready for games and interacting with other teams, coaches and refs...I get to just sit back and support.
-Pretty much everything (except drinks and food) are reimbursed by my school.
Cons:
-It takes me ages to write substitute lesson plans...I was at school until 7:30pm the evening before my trip finishing off said plans. This is never fun. Especially when the person teaching your classes neglects to even read a line of what is written. I still do it though because it's important...and I have hope they'll be followed.
-I have to wake up earlier in the morning than I normally would for school. I'm also around students for a longer period during the day, as we tend to be at the sporting event/venue later than 4pm.
-A student could get sick or injured and I have to spend the day at the hospital with them...this has not happened yet, though one of my chaperones ( +Teresa MacDonald ) has had to do this for me before. Maybe she would list this on the Pros list though? :P
Obviously, the list of pros of this 'job' outweigh the cons so it boils down to being a pretty fantastic gig. The trip I went on recently, however, was one of the best chaperoning experiences I've had and the trip before this was similar as well. Why? Well for a number of reasons. The trip I just chaperoned was the Division II ISST (International Schools Sports Tournament) Varsity (High School) Girls Basketball. This is the biggest tournament of the season for the varsity teams and the top two ranked teams will advance to Division I the following year...while the bottom two of Division I come back down to compete in Division II. While the team I was with wasn't expected to advance to the upper division, they were the underdogs and put in a fantastic effort. I had chaperoned a different trip with some of the same girls last year while they were under the leadership of a different coach. This year, they were a completely different team though! They were motivated, real team players and they played incredibly well together - a complete turn around from the tournament before. They look up to their coach and his coaching style pushed them to be the best they could; it opened my eyes to what coaching CAN do to a team. I arrived home from the tournament feeling inspired to start spring training with my middle school girls soccer team on Thursday as they are the (ultimate) underdogs in all of their games. Although I'm not as admired by my girls as the coach of this team is, I still think I've got something to work with...and when I say admired, the VG basketball coach was probably the hottest topic of conversation (and photo creeping) that I've ever experienced...and although it was awkward at times (being around the 20 year old best looking coach in the tournament) I smiled cause it reminded me a bit about this and another good lookin' fella that I've been around when someone's asked to take a photo with him:
(Yes, this was a national Korean ad! :P)
Moving along, I also have to give props to the team themselves. Being a junior (primary) school teacher, I get a bit freaked out by 'big kids' and am not really sure how to act in some situations. I travelled with middle school kids a month ago and thought it was a fun experience so I felt prepared for this trip (and as I mentioned, I'd chaperoned some of these girls once before). One plus of 'big kids' is that they can make jokes and be more sarcastic than 'little kids' and living by myself and working with the same colleagues day after day who get sick of my jokes and sarcasm, I can appreciate this outlet. All of the girls were great, they had positive attitudes and they were GREAT basketball players...despite some impossibilities that were suggest by other teams in the tournament like, "How can you concentrate with a hot coach like that?" and "You guys must just have a hot coach to distract us!" Either way, they were great. I connected with these 'scary' girls and was pumped and excited for them at all of their games. One of the girls is graduating this year so I was really in her corner as she attempted and shot at least one 3-pointer in every game of the tournament...in one game, she sunk FIVE 3-point baskets! She was that all around player that knows the game in and out, she led her team to where they're at and she was hilarious. At the end of the tournament, there was an all-star team selected and I was so hopeful this one student would be chosen for it and was devastated for her when she wasn't. Another very deserving MIS player was chosen (awesome for her! :) but I felt this graduating student deserved it just as much! She was pretty heartbroken about this too, but wouldn't outright admit this. I supported her by writing an email to the AD of the tournament hosting school to share my opinions (this may have made me look like a bit ridiculous/petty in his eyes) on what I thought must have been a mistake in not choosing her. I also bought her a rose at the airport that made her cry out of appreciation and this just melted my heart even more. I have so much respect for amazing kids and she is just one of these kids. The team also presented an award to their coach at the airport, the "Best Looking Coach at the 2013 VG Basketball ISST" award which he was really flattered to receive...complete with signatures and comments from the other coaches at the tournament. I thought he'd appreciate something to recognize/commemorate him on his first ever ISST as a coach with a fifth place finish (could have easily been 4th or even 3rd but they got messed up on seeding!) complete with a lot of great comments from much more experienced coaches who recognized what a great coach he is.
(At a team dinner with the lovely MIS VG Basketball team in The Hague...when in Holland, eat sushi, right? :P)
So, that's my past few days in the Netherlands. I didn't even get to comment on the great meals, chats and people I met while there. I even shared one of the best laughs I've had for a while with one of the other coaches and I always appreciate these sort of experiences! :) I also got an ISST badge which is pretty cool considering I never had the opportunity to play a competitive sport on this level as a kid...but it's pretty great that these kids have these opportunities at MIS! Being a part of this international teaching scene makes me feel incredibly lucky. Now, I'm going to spend the rest of the day cutting and pasting photo collages for my PE portfolios. Stay tuned as that'll be my next topic of bloggersation! :)
(Check out my sweet patch! If only I still had my green high school backpack from Eddie Bauer that still smelled amazing like the Eddie Bauer store years after I got it...it was also covered in patches!)
Pros:
-I get a break from teaching.
-I (in most cases) get to go visit a new place.
-I get to know a new group of students.
-I sit down most of the day and relax.
-When I'm not sitting down and relaxing, I'm cheering and getting pumped for the team I'm chaperoning.
-I get to stay in a hotel that sometimes has a tub...I don't have one at home so that's always nice.
-I get to meet other coaches and chaperones from other schools and 'network' with them...which almost always includes having a drink or two, eating good food and hearing some great new stories...of course, the students are all with their housing families by this point!
-On the same note as above, I meet people that know other people I work and/or worked with and get to hear stories about them...to be used for professionally blackmailing down the road! :P
-I get to practice my education from 2003-2005 while I (sometimes) tape ankles or visit other injuries that may occur during the sporting event.
-I'm merely a chaperone, meaning I don't have the same responsibilities for the students as the coach does when he/she is getting them ready for games and interacting with other teams, coaches and refs...I get to just sit back and support.
-Pretty much everything (except drinks and food) are reimbursed by my school.
Cons:
-It takes me ages to write substitute lesson plans...I was at school until 7:30pm the evening before my trip finishing off said plans. This is never fun. Especially when the person teaching your classes neglects to even read a line of what is written. I still do it though because it's important...and I have hope they'll be followed.
-I have to wake up earlier in the morning than I normally would for school. I'm also around students for a longer period during the day, as we tend to be at the sporting event/venue later than 4pm.
-A student could get sick or injured and I have to spend the day at the hospital with them...this has not happened yet, though one of my chaperones ( +Teresa MacDonald ) has had to do this for me before. Maybe she would list this on the Pros list though? :P
Obviously, the list of pros of this 'job' outweigh the cons so it boils down to being a pretty fantastic gig. The trip I went on recently, however, was one of the best chaperoning experiences I've had and the trip before this was similar as well. Why? Well for a number of reasons. The trip I just chaperoned was the Division II ISST (International Schools Sports Tournament) Varsity (High School) Girls Basketball. This is the biggest tournament of the season for the varsity teams and the top two ranked teams will advance to Division I the following year...while the bottom two of Division I come back down to compete in Division II. While the team I was with wasn't expected to advance to the upper division, they were the underdogs and put in a fantastic effort. I had chaperoned a different trip with some of the same girls last year while they were under the leadership of a different coach. This year, they were a completely different team though! They were motivated, real team players and they played incredibly well together - a complete turn around from the tournament before. They look up to their coach and his coaching style pushed them to be the best they could; it opened my eyes to what coaching CAN do to a team. I arrived home from the tournament feeling inspired to start spring training with my middle school girls soccer team on Thursday as they are the (ultimate) underdogs in all of their games. Although I'm not as admired by my girls as the coach of this team is, I still think I've got something to work with...and when I say admired, the VG basketball coach was probably the hottest topic of conversation (and photo creeping) that I've ever experienced...and although it was awkward at times (being around the 20 year old best looking coach in the tournament) I smiled cause it reminded me a bit about this and another good lookin' fella that I've been around when someone's asked to take a photo with him:
Moving along, I also have to give props to the team themselves. Being a junior (primary) school teacher, I get a bit freaked out by 'big kids' and am not really sure how to act in some situations. I travelled with middle school kids a month ago and thought it was a fun experience so I felt prepared for this trip (and as I mentioned, I'd chaperoned some of these girls once before). One plus of 'big kids' is that they can make jokes and be more sarcastic than 'little kids' and living by myself and working with the same colleagues day after day who get sick of my jokes and sarcasm, I can appreciate this outlet. All of the girls were great, they had positive attitudes and they were GREAT basketball players...despite some impossibilities that were suggest by other teams in the tournament like, "How can you concentrate with a hot coach like that?" and "You guys must just have a hot coach to distract us!" Either way, they were great. I connected with these 'scary' girls and was pumped and excited for them at all of their games. One of the girls is graduating this year so I was really in her corner as she attempted and shot at least one 3-pointer in every game of the tournament...in one game, she sunk FIVE 3-point baskets! She was that all around player that knows the game in and out, she led her team to where they're at and she was hilarious. At the end of the tournament, there was an all-star team selected and I was so hopeful this one student would be chosen for it and was devastated for her when she wasn't. Another very deserving MIS player was chosen (awesome for her! :) but I felt this graduating student deserved it just as much! She was pretty heartbroken about this too, but wouldn't outright admit this. I supported her by writing an email to the AD of the tournament hosting school to share my opinions (this may have made me look like a bit ridiculous/petty in his eyes) on what I thought must have been a mistake in not choosing her. I also bought her a rose at the airport that made her cry out of appreciation and this just melted my heart even more. I have so much respect for amazing kids and she is just one of these kids. The team also presented an award to their coach at the airport, the "Best Looking Coach at the 2013 VG Basketball ISST" award which he was really flattered to receive...complete with signatures and comments from the other coaches at the tournament. I thought he'd appreciate something to recognize/commemorate him on his first ever ISST as a coach with a fifth place finish (could have easily been 4th or even 3rd but they got messed up on seeding!) complete with a lot of great comments from much more experienced coaches who recognized what a great coach he is.
So, that's my past few days in the Netherlands. I didn't even get to comment on the great meals, chats and people I met while there. I even shared one of the best laughs I've had for a while with one of the other coaches and I always appreciate these sort of experiences! :) I also got an ISST badge which is pretty cool considering I never had the opportunity to play a competitive sport on this level as a kid...but it's pretty great that these kids have these opportunities at MIS! Being a part of this international teaching scene makes me feel incredibly lucky. Now, I'm going to spend the rest of the day cutting and pasting photo collages for my PE portfolios. Stay tuned as that'll be my next topic of bloggersation! :)
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