Snoozer Bowl 2019

Both Rosebros went to separate parties to watch the Super Bowl yesterday. Rosebro1 drove to his gathering. Rosebro2 wasn’t allowed to stay until the end of the game (he wasn’t in trouble….I just didn’t think he should stay out so late) so I dropped him off, spoke briefly with the family hosting, and then I sat in my car at a nearby restaurant and just read for a while. I just really could not do a large crowd or watch the game alone this year so I selected a book instead. I picked Rosebro2 up after the halftime show and hurried home so I could do laundry and he could watch the 2^nd half.

Rosebro2 complained that the 1^st half of the game was boring. And then he was mad about the result of the game. He was not pulling for the Rams, but he didn’t want the Patriots to win. I started thinking about that concept of pulling against someone to win. He wasn’t pulling for a team to win, he was pulling for a team to lose. Being the daughter of a coach, having been married to a trainer for over 20 years, and having a brother and 2 sons who have played sports, I’ve attended and watched more athletic events than I can count.  I’ve always had someone to pull for. While I hope the opposing team losing and my team would win, I have not watched a game hoping for a team to lose without having passion for the victory of my team.

I started thinking about us here at school. Can you imagine if we pulled against our students? This is one reason why I hate the statements of “we will see them in mugshots one day” or “nothing but trouble” or “will never amount to anything.” You see when I hear those statements, I am sad. I worry about our purpose or our why when we are pulling against a student.  When we root for students to lose, we aren’t fighting for them to win.

Some of our students have every reason to fail- bad home environment, lack of educated parents, trauma, transiency, attendance issues, or learning disabilities, yet we pull for them. We cheer them on, we give them everything we have and they succeed. We have other students who suffer from ADHD, anxiety, social issues, or lack of confidence. Yet, we love them into believing in themselves. We do that because we are pulling for them-not against them.

I hope when you’re thinking about your students, you are rooting for them. It may sound silly, but that mindset could be a “Game-changer” for a student.