… when the pressure is on, what’s on the inside of us comes out.
This was just one of the many sayings that I used (and meant) in my other life as a coach. I spent 4 years playing college sports and close to 15 coaching college and high school sports – Volleyball was my favorite, but you already knew that.
My main focus as a coach, besides winning as much as possible, was building character. The age-old chicken and egg dilemma has been applied to sports: Do you actually build character, or are players with certain characteristics drawn to the sport? I think it’s both – I have seen players change as a result of what they’ve had to do at practices and games … I’ve seen others never change.
I had one player who I coached for 3 years and it wasn’t until her senior year that she finally understood how to approach an opposing hitter on defense – 90% of the time, for 3 years, she watched the ball go over her head and drop to the floor. While that doesn’t seem like a character issue, it really is … she had to trust that I knew what I was talking about.
So here I am again, coaching … and asking my students to trust that they will need what I’m requiring them to do: blogging, wiki-ing, social bookmarking, digital story creating, and online discussing. If they can get through my class, they will be able to apply these new skills to their teaching and their students will benefit.
Vicki Davis Skyped into our class today and talked about her experiences as a teacher – she said the same thing … our students need to be able to work with each other via a wide range of technologies. So, C&I 212 students, you are being prepared to be change agents as you enter the teaching profession. You will have a skill set and knowledge base that many of your current peers and future colleagues will not have … this is a good thing … something you can take and run with … another method for expressing your creativity. Go … run … create!
Cycling Around Ed Tech 
I love this analogy because it hits an athletic spark in me. I don’t know that I would have thought to connect it to the technology class I am taking, but it fits. I had a lot of respect for my soccer coach and I did anything he told me to do. I did so because not only did I believe in my coach I believed in the game and what I was doing. I can see the connection in that I have to not only believe in my professor I have to believe in technology. I have to know that it has a place in my classroom and my students can truly benefit from what I am learning.