1007 Westbench Drive,
Penticton, British Columbia,
V2A 8Y4
May 25, 2011
Mr. Kleats,
Soccer Coach,
Central High School,
123 Main Street,
Sportstown, British Columbia,
V2A 1W3
Dear Mr. Kleats:
I am Peter Johnston, the father of Rick who plays on your soccer team, the Sportstown Slicers, and I would like to express a few concerns. During my frequent attendances to Rick's games, I have noticed a few problems that I would like to bring to your attention.
I recognise that you have a busy schedule and you are volunteering your time to help these kids have an organised soccer league, but when I had the opportunity to visit one of your practices, I was slightly disappointed. I noticed that your punctuality to the training I saw was lacking considerably. I know that you have a regular job and are taking extra time to coach, but I think that being on time is essential. It would serve as inspiration to your Slicers, teaching them the value of being punctual. Also, the practice I saw lacked structure and there were no real drills. The practices consisted of random scrimmages, which do offer a game situation, but not skill development. I believe that a structured practice is a necessity to winning, which, as a frequent attendee of soccer games, is evidently very important to you. Perhaps you should consider having an assistant coach help you with your management. An assistant would be able to help you organize training exercises and start the practice on time while you make your way to practice.
From observing at the many soccer games I have seen this season, I can see that you are very fixated on winning. I respect that wish completely as I cheer for my teams to win in the FIFA World Cup and I do want to see the Slicers win, but your passion for winning has transferred in a negative way to the players, my son included. Members of the Slicers are not being played evenly, regardless of the fact that all parents have paid the same amount of money for registration. We all want to win but my son, being one of the less adept players, has spent considerable amounts of time on the bench whereas Johnathan spends an entire game on the field. Seeing as this is not select district team, I would suggest setting a time limit to the substitutions and rotating everyone in for 15 minute intervals to allow everyone to play. Another grievance that I would like to discuss would be your tone when addressing your players. Kids will respond better to a kinder tone and I assure you that if you encourage your players in a positive way, you will see a dramatic increase in the success of the Slicers. I know how much you like winning so this proposal would benefit everyone.
As enthralled as you may be with the possibility of winning, we must all see that these are young kids and have signed up to enjoy the pleasure of playing soccer on a team. I hope you will consider these suggestions and concerns and that you can continue to coach the Slicers, perhaps leading them to their first league title. I thank you for your time and look forward to watching the game this Saturday.
Sincerely,
Peter Johnston
Greece
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Why Can't the School System be Like the "Good Old Days"?
-Some people say that the school system is much more lenient than that of this generation's predecessors, but this has repeatedly been found to be untrue. The past generations tell their offspring that teachers were accustomed to taking "the strap" to their pupils, but who can think of a better punishment than being forced to sit through half an hour of biology notes?
-Students of the Canadian school system are frequently assaulted by copious amounts of homework, threatening to drain the fluid from their brains slowly like gas being siphoned from a car engine. Observations have been made of students in libraries who are being distracted from spilling the contents of their mind into their cell phones by the ominous presence of unfinished fill-in-the-blank history notes. The school system has elevated into a state of panic and stress which is unheard of in past generations. In the 1960's, students didn't have to worry about their friends contacting them with a myriad of predicaments, forced to listen to their afflictions via text. Consequently, their stress levels were significantly reduced compared to modern day teens. Now, in modern day society, students cannot have to luxury of ensconcing themselves in their three math problems without being plagued by distractions. And they have only one thing to blame for their distractions: the complexity of the current school system. Who, in the real world, uses trivial mathematical equations such as quadratic functions in grocery stores to assign a number to a bundle of four carrots? "Well, since 'Y' equals four times 'X' squared minus seven, this comes to five dollars and seventeen cents." This will soon be a common conversation between all purveyors of food and their customers if something doesn't change in the school system. Teachers assign homework maliciously to students just so that they have something to do on their weekend. Students in past generations would never have had to do that.
-As well as the frequent stress of extra, unnecessary homework, the stress of having to study a second time for a test contributes to the overall sense of oppression in the Canadian school system. Why on Earth would anyone want to study twice for two separate tests on the same subject? The implication of the redo policy immediately invoked that level of stress in students. In the "good old days", this would never have been a problem. A test was written once and a mark was stamped on the paper in red ink, dictating the student's success rate. The student would accept this with a fleeting glance at the letter grade at the top of the paper and stow it away in their binder. Now, teens have a mark written on their test along with an array of comments. A soft suggestion from the teacher catapults the pupil into another studying session, sometimes lasting as long as an entire hour. This horrible sequence of events culminates in getting another mark on a new test, this time taken properly into consideration. Students have to be put through this process twice instead of once as their ancestors did.
-But there is yet another point that ignites teens' stress levels to terminal quantities: the no zero policy. Now imagine this: an English assignment is given to a student with a due date, perhaps, in three days after the weekend. Now this particular student has made plans with his friend to hang out watching re-runs of "Seinfeld" while texting his other friend, disclosing what he is doing and his location on a regular basis. This student does not have time to engage in the arduous task of focusing on the English assignment without distraction so he will come to a sudden realization: he already has a fine job at a local fast food joint. Why bother doing something when it is unnecessary? This luxury would be an excellent option but, however, the no zero policy denies that right. Instead, the slightly miffed teacher will subtly assign the student to the "homework room" to get the assignment done, making the student forfeit lunches to do the homework the student didn't do on purpose. Now that is a peculiar sense of reasoning.
-The Canadian school system really does need to make some changes and ensure that progress is moving to ensure that students get an easier and much less stressful education. Society foresees a day where unnecessary homework, redoes, and the zero policy is but a faint whisper from the past. The future will hold days of school work that ease students calmly into the soothing and relaxing atmosphere university life and then the sheer bliss of the workplace.
-Students of the Canadian school system are frequently assaulted by copious amounts of homework, threatening to drain the fluid from their brains slowly like gas being siphoned from a car engine. Observations have been made of students in libraries who are being distracted from spilling the contents of their mind into their cell phones by the ominous presence of unfinished fill-in-the-blank history notes. The school system has elevated into a state of panic and stress which is unheard of in past generations. In the 1960's, students didn't have to worry about their friends contacting them with a myriad of predicaments, forced to listen to their afflictions via text. Consequently, their stress levels were significantly reduced compared to modern day teens. Now, in modern day society, students cannot have to luxury of ensconcing themselves in their three math problems without being plagued by distractions. And they have only one thing to blame for their distractions: the complexity of the current school system. Who, in the real world, uses trivial mathematical equations such as quadratic functions in grocery stores to assign a number to a bundle of four carrots? "Well, since 'Y' equals four times 'X' squared minus seven, this comes to five dollars and seventeen cents." This will soon be a common conversation between all purveyors of food and their customers if something doesn't change in the school system. Teachers assign homework maliciously to students just so that they have something to do on their weekend. Students in past generations would never have had to do that.
-As well as the frequent stress of extra, unnecessary homework, the stress of having to study a second time for a test contributes to the overall sense of oppression in the Canadian school system. Why on Earth would anyone want to study twice for two separate tests on the same subject? The implication of the redo policy immediately invoked that level of stress in students. In the "good old days", this would never have been a problem. A test was written once and a mark was stamped on the paper in red ink, dictating the student's success rate. The student would accept this with a fleeting glance at the letter grade at the top of the paper and stow it away in their binder. Now, teens have a mark written on their test along with an array of comments. A soft suggestion from the teacher catapults the pupil into another studying session, sometimes lasting as long as an entire hour. This horrible sequence of events culminates in getting another mark on a new test, this time taken properly into consideration. Students have to be put through this process twice instead of once as their ancestors did.
-But there is yet another point that ignites teens' stress levels to terminal quantities: the no zero policy. Now imagine this: an English assignment is given to a student with a due date, perhaps, in three days after the weekend. Now this particular student has made plans with his friend to hang out watching re-runs of "Seinfeld" while texting his other friend, disclosing what he is doing and his location on a regular basis. This student does not have time to engage in the arduous task of focusing on the English assignment without distraction so he will come to a sudden realization: he already has a fine job at a local fast food joint. Why bother doing something when it is unnecessary? This luxury would be an excellent option but, however, the no zero policy denies that right. Instead, the slightly miffed teacher will subtly assign the student to the "homework room" to get the assignment done, making the student forfeit lunches to do the homework the student didn't do on purpose. Now that is a peculiar sense of reasoning.
-The Canadian school system really does need to make some changes and ensure that progress is moving to ensure that students get an easier and much less stressful education. Society foresees a day where unnecessary homework, redoes, and the zero policy is but a faint whisper from the past. The future will hold days of school work that ease students calmly into the soothing and relaxing atmosphere university life and then the sheer bliss of the workplace.
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