123 Main Street
Penticton, British Columbia,
V2A 3W1
May 25, 2011
Mr. Kleats
Head Basketball Coach
Central High School
123 Main Street
Sportstown, British Columbia
V2A 1W3
Dear Mr. Kleats:
My name is Arman Smith and I am the mother of Ryan Smith, who plays on your senior basketball team, Central High Cardinals. I recognize the time and effort you are spending in coaching the students in order for them to develop their skills. However, I do have some concerns.
I do appreciate the amount of time you have spent volunteering to coach the players but am disappointed with your punctuality. I have noticed on more than one occasion that the Cardinals arrive on time for training but you seem to be missing, Being on time would inspire the players to do the same and see you as a positive role model. As well, the practices that I have sat in on seem to be disorganized and are not geared towards improving the skills of the young players. The practices seem to have more emphasis on scrimmage than drills to practice essential basketball skills. To help with these concerns I suggest that you have a second coach that can help manage the team. This would also free some of your time and the players would benefit from it.
Attending all of the Cardinal's games I have observed that there too much focus on winning. Though I know the boys need to be motivated and keep a competitive spirit, they do not need to be constantly reminded that winning is the only objective. When they do lose it not only lowers their self esteem but it also makes them feel as if they have let you down. To follow with the winning mentality you do have, I have noticed that you have unequal playing time. My son who is less adept than other players has less playing time because of it. This is all so the team can win. I do not agree with this since all of us parents pay the same school sports fees and this was a no "try-out" basketball team. It should be changed so that every player was on a three minute line up with players of varied strengths. This allows for the players to learn how to help each other and increases the bonding between them. Lastly, it's winning that you would like to see, I would like to offer that you change the tone of voice that you speak to your players with. A kind tone offers a positive response from the students and encourages them to play better.
I am very grateful that you have taken the time to read this letter and I hope you concur with my concerns. As well I do hope to receive a response.
Sincerely,
Arman Smith
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Only Second to Breathing
"I don't want to see your cell phones on your desk; turn them off and put them out of sight." How many times have you heard that from your teachers? It's an absurd statement. Those electronic devices are an integral part of modern man's life.
Since we have been young, our elders have told us to be social. It's a way of life. We, as humans, need to stay connected to each other. In the past, people held social gatherings in order to catch up. This generation does the same however it is so inconvenient that one has to wait that time between gatherings. Cell phones provide us a way to connect much faster through texting. All one has to do it quickly type in a text and if it's during class you have to be secretive so as not to get caught. I do realize education is important and texting is distracting me from it. However, being able to text Taylor what I had heard from Poonam about Erik and then Taylor must text Rav so Rav can text Erik is much more important. That way Erik can know about the rumor that Poonam had heard of and end it quickly rather than more people finding out about it.
Not only that but these devices allow for class notes to fly by far more quickly. Though we all love sitting in Mr. Becker's calculus class writing down and solving enormous integration problems using various functions, it would be beneficial if we all pulled out our camera phones and took pictures of Mr. Becker solving the problems. That way we can text while the lesson is occurring and still pay attention when we take the picture and view it. It would allow more time to work through practice problems and we would be more inclined to use our own brains. This also makes it so we don't have to pay the twenty dollars for a workbook because our phones are now the workbook with all of the examples a click away.
Cell phones relieve some of the pressure that is imposed by our teachers. If you have the latest and greatest technology you would know that any question asked by your teacher can be answered by 'googling' on your phone. This way no student has to to go through the awkward pause when they don't know the answer to a question and it makes them feel smart. As well, making sure the cell phones stay in the class allows for less mental breakdowns when unable to remember the definitions to various words needed to know on an everyday basis.
It seems completely unpractical that teachers or the school board would feel the need to ban cell phones from the class. If the above did not win you over then you can think of it this way, if they're on their cell phones then they aren't talking in the middle of class. Some teachers get their peace and quiet.
Since we have been young, our elders have told us to be social. It's a way of life. We, as humans, need to stay connected to each other. In the past, people held social gatherings in order to catch up. This generation does the same however it is so inconvenient that one has to wait that time between gatherings. Cell phones provide us a way to connect much faster through texting. All one has to do it quickly type in a text and if it's during class you have to be secretive so as not to get caught. I do realize education is important and texting is distracting me from it. However, being able to text Taylor what I had heard from Poonam about Erik and then Taylor must text Rav so Rav can text Erik is much more important. That way Erik can know about the rumor that Poonam had heard of and end it quickly rather than more people finding out about it.
Not only that but these devices allow for class notes to fly by far more quickly. Though we all love sitting in Mr. Becker's calculus class writing down and solving enormous integration problems using various functions, it would be beneficial if we all pulled out our camera phones and took pictures of Mr. Becker solving the problems. That way we can text while the lesson is occurring and still pay attention when we take the picture and view it. It would allow more time to work through practice problems and we would be more inclined to use our own brains. This also makes it so we don't have to pay the twenty dollars for a workbook because our phones are now the workbook with all of the examples a click away.
Cell phones relieve some of the pressure that is imposed by our teachers. If you have the latest and greatest technology you would know that any question asked by your teacher can be answered by 'googling' on your phone. This way no student has to to go through the awkward pause when they don't know the answer to a question and it makes them feel smart. As well, making sure the cell phones stay in the class allows for less mental breakdowns when unable to remember the definitions to various words needed to know on an everyday basis.
It seems completely unpractical that teachers or the school board would feel the need to ban cell phones from the class. If the above did not win you over then you can think of it this way, if they're on their cell phones then they aren't talking in the middle of class. Some teachers get their peace and quiet.
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