Wrestling coach

December 13- January 3, 2014

Description
The artifact I brought was a picture one of the parents took of me and the three other coaches.
Over the winter of 2014 I was a wrestling coach for Dodgeville High school. I wrestled with the
smaller wrestlers on the team those weights included 106, 113, 120, 126 and on the rare
occasion. Practice was every day from 3:30 until 7 pm. Wrestling was all winter long. What
makes this experience unique is that I took a kid who has never wrestled before and helped him
get his first win of the season against a state qualifier.
Wisconsin Teaching Standards Alignment
This experience best aligns with Standard ten. Standard ten is collaboration. The reason I aligned
it with this one is because I learned how to communicate and work with parents, other coaches,
athletic trainers and the officials. Throughout coaching, I was able to meet new people and learn
how to connect with them. The responsibility on my shoulder was demanding. Most of the high
school students I worked with were first or second year students. Not only was my responsibility
to the children but to the parents who had no idea how their child was doing. I still am
connected to some of these families that helped learn about the sport of wrestling.
Knowledge, Skills, Disposition Statement Alignment
Alignment Statement KSD4.c: Communicates With Families
During my coaching experience, I was able to connect with children younger than myself and the
parents of those children. It was important to communicate with families so that they would learn
trust me and believe in what I was telling them. It was important to let the families know that
with the coaching staff we had their children were perfectly safe and were learning how to
believe in themselves in and out of the classroom.
This also addresses the following KSDs:

KSD2.a- Creates an Environment of Respect and Rapport

KSD2.d- Manages Student Behavior
KSD3.a- Communicates Clearly and Accurately
KSD3.e- Demonstrates Flexibility and Responsiveness
KSD4.d- Contributes to the School and District

What I learned about teaching

I was able to learn how to communicate better with other coaches, parents, officials and the
young athletes. It is important to be able to build relationships with parents, students and
other teachers. It also helped me how to make a safe and respective environment and how to
help those who those student who do not have a good home life.
What I learned about myself
I learned that not every student is going to be of the same ability of the rest of the group. I
learned how to help them get caught up while still helping the other student get better and
excel even more.