Still pulling it all together

No down time:

Less than 12 hours after last night's game, we're back at it again, breaking down the film from last night of next week's opponent. Once the season starts, we put in the hours. Each Sunday morning starts the process over with a fresh start. We break down the previous night's game, so that we might learn from our mistakes, and enjoy our successes. Win or lose, we choose an Offensive and a Defensive Player of the Week, as well as standouts from our Scout Team.

We also begin to break down the film from the previous game of next week's opponent. This lets us see what type of offense and defense we will come up against. It lets us see the strengths and weaknesses of the offense and defense. Of course, our opponent will be doing the same thing with our film.

This coming Saturday is our off week, meaning we have no opponent next Saturday. It is an opportunity for our players to heal from any minor injuries, and to go home to visit family and enjoy a home cooked meal. For me, I will have an opportunity to make a quick trip home to Aggieland to catch Texas A&M take on the University of Kentucky. I'll leave early Sunday morning to begin the process all over again as we prepare for a home game against the Incarnate Word Cardinals. If you're in the area, come out to Provost Umphrey Stadium next Saturday to support your Lamar Cardinals. #PeckEm

Lessons learned in part 1 of this semester:

My feelings on ePortfolios have run the gamut during this course. I have gone from confusion to understanding. I have a product that I am proud of, and a product that is easy to modify as I see fit. I do want to explore different products, specifically WordPress, but I knew better than to try and self-learn during football season. There will be plenty of opportunity this Spring and Summer.

I like the idea of having a platform that will allow for comments. I can see lots of positives for being able to respond to them, as well as to receive and answer questions. Once I had my paradigm shift, things got a lot easier.

We have had a rough start to the season thus far, and I have found myself reviewing the Growth Mindset, and reminding myself that I have to practice it as I preach it. When you are still looking for your first conference win with a new staff and team, it is not always easy.

I still utilize my Learning Communities and draw on them for ideas and support, specifically my weekly coach's twitter feed the past few weeks. While the timing of our class's weekly meeting did not work out with our team practice schedule, I have enjoyed the opportunity to listen afterwards.

As I listened to discussions from class, I realized that the issue of "ownership" with ePortfolios in the public school setting could get complicated. Remembering the issues of internet safety, an ePortfolio for a minor does present some things that require teachers, campus administrators and district administrators to be on the same page. During my time as a high school coach, I can only imagine how difficult that can be. As a college coach, I look forward to finding ways for my athletes to use an ePortfolio to "sell" their skills as not only a college graduate, but someone that already knows how to take their individual talents to work together for the good of a team - a valuable skill in this day and age.

I have enjoyed this course, and getting to know my classmates through discussion comments and course videos. I look forward to the opportunity to learn even more from each of you as we progress through the masters program.

#TriangleTough #WeAreLU