407 Literacy Profile

                Soccer has had a strong influence on my life since I was six years old. My parents wanted me to play a sport so they had signed me up for a Sting Rays camp in the summer. I happened to be one of the older kids there and I was better because I was more coordinated (but I was oblivious to that reason at the time). This was the first thing I knew I was good at, so I kept with it.

                I grew up in Cranston, RI and the town has an organization called CLCF (Cranston’s League for Cranston’s Future) that organizes recreational sports for kids. I played my first season in the fall of second grade. This was very important to me because I had just moved to Cranston from Warwick and this gave the opportunity to make new friends. It turned out that most of the kids in the CLCF program went to my elementary school instead of Stone Hill or Garden City. I was very happy to work on some friendships.

The first season was great. The team was very close even though we lost all 12 of our games. Our coach kept pushing us to win but halfway through he didn’t mind anymore because we were still having a lot of fun. I don’t remember ever being part of a team that was not fun to be part of. I played both the fall and spring seasons until I was 12. Through those years I gained skill in ball control, shooting, passing, and understanding the game. My position was always central defense or defensive midfield because I was very possessive of my side of the field. The other team was not allowed to be there or to have the ball when I played and that tenacity was beloved by every one of my coaches.

My best season was fall of seventh grade. I had gotten so good that a reporter from the Cranston Herald used to interview me after games (I had no idea the town had such interest in recreational sports!). One game, I had more saves than my goalie, who was a substitute to be fair.

The following season changed my life forever. I suffered a dislocated kneecap and year later discovered a ligament was torn, including part of my meniscus. I spent almost two years in rehab but I couldn’t outfight my growing body. In my desire to play again, I tried to play twice, but suffered the same result. I turned to refereeing games, which was enjoyable, but not the same. Since then, and currently now, I am overcompensating my love to play the game by studying it. I can name every team in the top divisions of England, Germany, and Spain and Italy on a good day. I know most of the players and formations, and have a fairly firm grasp on tactics. I have even developed a belief on how I would coach a team and what playing style I would prefer to use, since it really is just a preference most of the time.

Now, as a teacher candidate, I realize that my teachers may not have known this about me, but that this knowledge would benefit them in their teaching. If nothing else, my teachers could have had a stronger relationship with me that may have caused me to work harder in school. I struggled with motivating myself to do work because I didn’t see the point in it. Most often, teachers would give up trying to get me to do my homework and get mad or send me out of the room, which actually makes things worse.

If I were a teacher, I would want to know what out of school activity a student likes most so that I can strengthen that relationship. I believe that a strong relationship between student and teacher includes respect which can motivate students to do work. There were a few teachers that I respected and I made sure to do my work in their class because if I didn’t, I got that look of disappointment that I hate, so I made sure to do the next assignment really well. This respect also contributes to creating a community and a safe environment. The teacher should seem human to the students without any need of investigation. And yes, they may need to share a few minor personal details, such as their favorite sport or pet, to help the students realize this. Knowing what students like can open the door for differentiation. In the case of soccer, on field formations can be used to explain some 3-D visualizations of chemical reactions and other concepts (like how water dissolving salt is like defenders swarming an opposing ball carrier) that are difficult to imagine.

Knowing your students is fundamental to differentiating instruction, and to having a safe community for individuals to learn in. Between now and student teaching, I hope to gain more knowledge on how to best learn my students and then how do I really use that knowledge to improve my students’ learning.