“Spread, 98, first play”
When I was in charge of the offense for the JV football team
that was always the call I sent into the huddle for the first play. Clever name huh?
‘Spread’ meant that our players were to line up in the
spread formation, 2 WRs on each side of the field, QB in the shotgun, and a RB
to the left of the QB. ‘98’ told
our line to block as if it were a sprint out to the right, and ‘first play’
indicated the entire pattern of what everyone else was doing.
Upon alignment, the slot WR on the left side would come in
motion, and the QB would call for the snap. The ball was handed to that slot as if he was going to run a
sweep play to the right, but just as he received the ball he prepared to
lateral it back to the slot WR on the right. The right slot took a jab step forward, and then made a loop
around as if he were going to execute a reverse, and would catch the lateral
from the original ball carrier. In
the meantime, the QB took about 5 steps back after the handoff, and the RB remained
by his side as a bodyguard to block any oncoming defenders. When the slot received the lateral, he
would then take a few steps and toss it back to the QB, who would then set to
throw, and then would pass it to the original ball carrier who had continued to
run down the sideline after his first lateral.
(deep breath) WHEW!
I hope that made sense. As
confusing as it sounds, is as confusing as it looks to everyone except to our
players. Our players LOVED it and
believed in it! It was a trick play
that they took pride in knowing that it was always going to be our first play,
no matter the scenario (we fumbled on our own 8 yd line one time, lost the
ball, and I’m sure everyone in the stadium was thinking rather negatively about
me at the point, but we had committed and I never wanted the kids to lose their
excitement for our team).
Just like many other trick plays, the play typically worked and
if it didn’t, it was our execution, not the defense that stopped us. The reason trick plays are so often
celebrated on Sportscenter, provide a jolt of energy to a home crowd, or leave
the defense wondering what the heck is going on, is that they are ‘risky’ plays
that go against the normal style of play that people have become accustomed to
seeing.
So what is my point here? I have just completed the first week of the second semester
teaching my health class, and just like “spread, 98, first play,” I have
instituted a trick teaching style that I plan to commit to in my
classroom.
I spent much of my first semester dissatisfied with the
progress my students were making.
To stay with the football analogy, I continued running the same old
offensive plays, and getting the same old results: the kids who were good at playing the game of school,
succeeded, the kids whose talent was not “take notes, participate, fill out
this worksheet, memorize this for a test” struggled.
I was one of those kids that was good at playing the game of
school. Fortunately, I was
involved in so many extra-curricular activities that my school experience was a
success. I see too many talented
and/or brilliant students that don’t get to experience success because they are
involved in zero activities, and are bored to death by school. BIG PROBLEM!
Enter Twitter (follow me @Coach_Morrison3). Many people believe it is just a way to
follow celebrities and see what they had for lunch; false (this is a whole
other post). The professional
learning network (PLN) that I have developed by using the site, has led me to
countless articles and first-hand experiences over the past 6 months that have
allowed me to develop my new teaching style.
Calling it a teaching style may even be misleading. What I am doing in my classroom is
running a trick play that creates a culture of student-led, project-based
learning. The students are
choosing what they want to learn, and I am becoming more of a leader and
facilitator to each individual student’s needs, rather than just a presenter of
information to a group of passive receptors. My professional guidance is to lead them to what they need
to know, using their curiosity of a specific wonder as a guiding force.
Week number one was outstanding (I’ll share details soon)! Each day I saw a new light come on in a
different student. They were
entering uncharted territories just as I was, and it was a struggle at
first. But, as I continue to
establish the culture of the room as open, free, and one that encourages
failure, not punishes it, more and more students will get it.
I am looking forward to using this blog as a way to share
the successes (and failures) that I encounter along the way. I know we will lose a fumble, or miss a
handoff from time to time, but I am committed to what I believe to be an
exciting, innovative, fabulous opportunity for both myself and my students,
just as I was committed to “Spread, 98, first play.”
Take care,
Coach Mo
