Wittman: ‘Holy Crap’ Let’s Not Celebrate Being Above .500 « CBS DC

Wittman: ‘Holy Crap’ Let’s Not Celebrate Being Above .500 « CBS DC



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When I was in elementary and middle school, before doing my newspaper route, I would always start my day by reading the sports page of the Washington Post. When I went to the library, I often chose biographies of my sports heroes, Babe Ruth, Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens. Nobody had to tell me to "choose a variety of genres."

What I love about sports, as much as I have always enjoyed competing is the drama, the characters, the moral fiber needed to become a great athlete and win a championship. When my friend Bobby Richie and I used to shoot baskets in his back yard, we would always pretend to shoot the winning basket, and call out the play by play in our best announcer voice. That was fun.

So many attitudes I have about teaching come from lessons learned from sports, how to win graciously, how to learn from losing, how to prepare, how to put myself in a winning attitude came from sports. My music training under Ellis Chasens didn't hurt. My expectation was that I would win.

When students celebrate earning a C, my response is typically, what can you do do even better the next time? If students fail, I tell them that I don't care about grades, what I care about is how well they show their work, how well they prepare. I tell them that, if they do a great job of preparing, their grades will take care of themselves. That is the message that Coach Wittman expressed today on Lavar and Dukes on 106.7 the Fan. Listening to Coach Wittman on the Fan, I was pumping my fist while parked in front of my house. Chad and Lavar have developed great rapport with Coach, and helped me feel even more connected to my local basketball team.

Imagine John Wall winning a championship in DC, wearing a Washington Bullets jersey ... I hate the name Wizards, what a travesty! DC should float the name change by having the team play wearing classic Bullets jerseys in a game -- throwback jerseys! My buddy who coaches a championship football team, who I struck up a conversation with because he was wearing a Wizards jersey, agreed, a John Wall Bullets Jersey would sell.

Time to go back to school. Can't leave my class unplanned. I won't let down Dr. P. Plus, I have a mountain sized chip on my shoulder from all those who said I couldn't. Dr. P has challenged me to do my job and differentiate so that all children can be successful, and I plan on rising to meet the challenge. Yes!