Photo courtesy of www.clutchpoint.com
THEME: OBJECTIVE
The final score for Super Bowl LIV 2020 was 20 – 31. The AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs came out victorious over the NFC San Francisco 49ers. This was the Chiefs first Super Bowl appearance since 1970! Andy Reid, the Chief’s Head Coach, appeared live on Monday Night Football during the “Punt, Pass, and Kick” competition so it is safe to say that the love of football flows through his veins! The Chief’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, completed 26 passes and won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award. Altogether there are at least 64 players on the Kansas City Chiefs roster, however, they all get a Championship ring because they are a team. Being a team means that “Together Everyone Accomplishes More!”
A few years ago, a middle school educator shared a few things that he did on the first day of school each year. He stated how he numbered each desk and created a seating chart for each class so that as students entered, they immediately knew their position in the classroom. Since he worked with a diverse bunch of students, he would ask the student to raise their hands if they did not answer by their government name or if their name had a unique pronunciation. It was important that he briefly visited each student with their arm raised and wrote their name phonetically on his personal roll sheet so that they would feel comfortable being addressed properly in front of their peers. He then transitioned back to the front of the room, took out his cell phone, and recorded the students chanting “before you know it, you’re going to high school!”
Once everyone was settled, the teacher would pass out a gallon-size Ziploc bag of materials and identify 5-6 groups in the classroom. The students were given specific instructions and then asked to empty the contents of their bags. Overall, they were given 15 minutes to construct a tower from uncooked spaghetti sticks, string, and masking tape that could support a marshmallow on top. Once the time was called, most groups did not even have a standing structure! The teacher shared that students that saw the most success were the ones that started with the marshmallow first, rather than those that built a complete tower and tried to add the marshmallow on top at the last minute. The problem was that most people underestimated the weight of the marshmallow. Also, others saw the success that was willing to try different prototypes, not just try to first one design the entire time.
The overall lesson is that as the educator, it was his goal to start with the end goal in mind. I am sure Andy Reid started the football season in preparation for the Super Bowl, not just the next approaching game. That was the significance of the teacher recording the students chant on the first day of school, he would add it to a compilation video and replay it to them on the final day of school. It was his goal for them to excel in his content, get promoted, but primarily to be successful in life. Sometimes the strategy or pathway may change, but the goal remained constant; ultimate success. As students matriculate through different grade levels all across the nation, we have already passed the “half-time” event…What are we doing to finish strong and come out victorious? What are we doing to take our students and schools to the Next Level?
- The Jeremy Anderson Group