Balance between teacher and coach

[jbowen2]

What are some strategies for giving equal attention to both coaching and teaching? In many cases the only reason one may be a coach is because their ability to teach. How do you balance both of your "worlds" without giving one more than the other? If you do not balance, which one do you give most of your time to and why?

Thanks for all your thoughts and help.

[mmbraswell21]

In my experience, I have met many people who want to coach so they become a teacher. I think that balance is a great thought, but I think that teaching should come first and I think this is the most important of the two. I know t hat many lessons are learned from sports and from coaches. I should know because I am a coach myself. I try to be an influence to my players every time I see them. I take this same attitude into my classes. My first and main job is teaching. This is my first priority. Anything else after that is a plus!

[ash8634]

I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in Phys. Ed. Many of my peers have told me that they are only going into the major to be coach. Going into their career this way is going to be a definite downfall to their teaching experience. If you're only teaching to pay the bills and you're coaching because you love it, you are only going to do the minimum your job requires. This goes both ways. If you only coach to earn some extra money your heart is not going to be 100% into it. I personally believe that while balance is a great thing, it is not always very achievable. I feel that teaching should be your number one priority, considering that as a coach you are a teacher! After I graduate I hope to not only excel at teaching, but also to be a role model as a coach. Teaching sports and live long lessons will not only help your students, but your players as well.

[pingeyez2]

This combination will come with experience and there are many factors to be concerned with . The first order of business is teaching , then coaching. It isn't as glamorous as many think and something will suffer. The long nights followed by a long teaching day will cause a burnout along the way . When we are young , there won't be too much of a notice. Another thing to consider is family and what it will do to the family unit. There will have to heaps of understanding . But, nowadays , it is imperative to bring in money just for survival purposes in this economy. I knew of many teachers who padded their salaries for retirement. Mostly, they were assistant coaches , and at times, knew very little about the sport . Of course, there are many teachers who can handle both entities.

Teaching should be paramount . It is a proven fact that after the hours put in with money values that really the per hour ratio of money to time is a fact that (we) do this because we love working with kids .( about a dollar and hour in many cases). This isn't etched in "gold" but the money is a low total unless you are in a big time situation and that will make more of a difference.
Personally , I taught for 36 years , coached for 28 of them ,and then went right to a private gymnastics(at night) experience . In the beginning , it was a "high" and near the end of that tenure it became a mental fatigue hazard . But, the students always came first and coaching second. The rewards were the same. In between , in the summers I coached senior baseball , soccer and high school gymnastics and basketball during the school year.

As long as you can keep things in perspective then go for it . But, I never took my major as a stepping stone to coaching. Now, that was many years ago and things have changed . If your classes start to suffer , then its time to take to take a step back and establish changes or cut back on coaching. The proof is that the students will know and they will read you like a book with the teachers body language . If your level of enthusiasm drops , then so will the students. Then, you have lost them and just may be at the point of no return .

Gerry Cernicky
http://igreen.tripod.com/gerpe

[KLDavis24]

Teaching should come first. Coaching is just a plus to teaching. The balance between teacher and coach is hard, because both require lots of time. I feel they can go hand-in-hand because coaching is teaching. The person just has to watch and not burn-out. A burned out coach or teacher is not good for the sport or students.

[pingeyez2]

I know this answer has a double meaning , but maybe it reminds us why many think coaching is worth the effort , and teaching becomes secondary . These circumstances are at a low thought in the beginning , but after viewing these statistics may change some minds. Yes , coaching has to start somewhere , and with that hope may just be the springboard to much bigger( $$$$$$$$ ) things. It happens . This may be off the mark , but serves as a reason why delusions of granduer make coaching more glamorous than teaching. This isn't to say coaching isn't teaching : it is a vital part of that structure.

Anyway , recently a famous college coach moved to a new school and here are the statisitics from that contract that was reported from my hometown newspaper :

* 31.62 million deal
* Two late model cars+ mileage
* Golf club membership + monthly dues and initiation fees
* Twenty lower level season football tickets
* Eight tickets for home games
* Hundreds of thousands of dollars for incentives for reaching milestones such as (75%) graduation rate or winning the national title
* The right to income from conducting "camps" using the colleges facilities

It must be realized the query about coaching and teaching was the main message . But, there are underlying features why coaching does take preference . Here are some "Funattical " statistics that match the coaches magnificent financial amounts for teachers / coaches in another place and time ( we need to laugh or we''ll cry):

* A beginning salary deal of 25-30 thousand dollars ($$)
* One new car with 80,00 miles and an old rusted one
* Golf club membership- pay at the ticket window buddy
* Reserve seats near the student section for all football games
* No tickets for home games- show teacher pass for one dollar discount
* Tens and twenty dollars in incentives for extra work
* Camping includes-bring own pup tent , matches, flashlights and spend countless hours with campers morning to night
* 99 % graduation rate + national milestone of making it through the day
* The only facilities to use is the one near a tree next to the bear traps
Teaching is glamorous ,too. After all these years in retirement , I can still hear the sounds of joy from my students( do we have to go ? can we stay here all day? I love P.E. ? I wish we could stay here for every class? One more minute please? See you next time , can't wait ? )

Gerry Cernicky
http://igreen.tripod.com/gerpe

[milks]

I truly believe that teaching should come first. Education is a very important aspect in life. Your main priority should to educate your students. Coaching has it's advantages but if it is getting in the way of your teaching, you need to step back and think about what is more important.

[Ryan Butschle]

My father is a high school english teacher and a high school football coach and i've seen first hand at how someone can deal with balancing coaching with teaching. It definately takes its toll on a person but after awhile they develop a routine to juggle both and all of the responsibilities both entail. He's been doing both for over ten years now and has definately got the hang of it. So to shed some light on the topic, I guess one of the best solutions is time. Over time you will develop a routine and strategy to balancing both.

[Garrett Lange]

I personally think that teaching should definitely come before coaching, even though quite often it is the other way around. I think doing both though is great and I feel that as an athlete and student I learned quite a bit more and was much more motivated to be physically active by my coaches. I do think coaches and their athletes have a much stronger bond than a teacher and their students, but both should use this bond to be a positive model for their athletes and students. By being both a teacher and coach I think it allows you to positively affect more people, but I feel your first priority should always be teaching.

[noctont]

I feel that it is important to keep the duties of teaching and coaching separate. Physical education teachers should be like any other subject. When it is class time you should be devoted to those students. Too many times I have seen coaches working on practice plans, or lining the field etc when they should be teaching a class. This is what gives our profession a bad name. I also believe that the more you develop as a teacher, the better coach you will become. The best teachers make the best coach