Anthony Troshak's Portfolio
Hard Work
Synthesis Essay
After completing my undergrad and one year internship I was fortunate enough to find a teaching position in Caseville, MI. It is a class D school with about 85 students in the high school and 260 students K-12. I was able to survive a challenging first year of teaching. In my first year I had five preps and taught science for the first time. I also served as head coach for the junior varsity boys basketball team. I had previous coaching experience but this was my first time taking on a head coaching role. I thought my second year would be a little easier, I was dead wrong. I was required to teach 8th and 10th grade health and conditioning, two classes I had never taught before. I started attending as many professional development opportunities as possible. I was also asked to be the varsity boys basketball head coach and run the entire boys basketball program. At this time, I knew it was sink or swim for me. I was either going to bow my neck and tackle these new opportunities or I was going to crumble, not reach my potential and maybe decide teaching was not for me. I knew I would need help. I leaned on my colleagues and friends to assist me through these challenges. As I looked at the challenges before me I knew I would have to become a better teacher and coach. I started looking into programs that would suit both needs. Luckily I found the Master of Arts in Education program at Michigan State University that would allow me to grow both as a teacher and coach. Looking back now I can honestly say this was the best choice I could have made. The MAED program tremendously improved my knowledge and skills. It also taught me about time management, teamwork, and accountability.
After being accepted into the MAED program I felt many different emotions. I was eager, nervous, focused and scared all at once. I liked how the program was online and allowed me the freedom to complete most work at my own pace. I was greatly looking forward to learning new strategies, techniques and best practices I could implement into my teaching and coaching. This is where my journey began.
In the fall of 2013 I enrolled in KIN 855: Psychosocial Bases of Coaching taught by Dr. Marty Ewing. I was excited to be learning about methods that would improve my coaching and benefit the players as athletes, students and citizens. I truly enjoyed my first years of coaching at the junior varsity and varsity levels. I loved being with the kids in the gym, seeing them in a different setting than the classroom. It gave me the opportunity to form positive relationships with older students that I had not had the chance to teach. I am huge believer in teaching life lessons through athletics. I had been spending all of my free time reading coaching books, attending clinics, and watching videos. As KIN 855 began I could not help but think of all the things I would quickly learn, which is why I was a bit shocked when my first assignment which was due half way through the semester was to write a 20-30 page paper about my coaching philosophy. I thought, wait a second, isn’t this program supposed to teach me about coaching philosophies? And 20-30 pages? How am I going to do that while teaching and coaching? My longest lab report in undergrad was a 15 page lab report and that was a chore. Luckily I had roughly five weeks to complete this assignment while I completed the other modules for the class. I first broke the paper down into sections and gave myself a due date for each section. This sometimes meant staying at school until eight or nine at night, as I did not have internet where I lived—remember I was just a lowly second year teacher. I would come in on Saturdays and Sundays to complete my lesson plans along with my assignments for KIN 855. With some self-discipline and proof reading from a colleague I was able to meet my deadlines and finish my philosophy. After completing the assignment I remember thinking that no matter what this program throws at me I will be successful. I also learned that in order to improve my coaching philosophy, I first had to have one. I had to have a plan, a foundation for something to build on. This assignment not only gave me a coaching foundation, it gave me a mold of how I would use the MAED program to maximize my teaching and coaching abilities.
In the spring of 2013 I was ready to take on my second course of the MAED program, KIN 854: Legal Issues for Administrations and Coaches taught by Rick Atkinson. The big difference between KIN 854 and my first course was that I had zero background knowledge about the topic of KIN 854. I had never taken a law course before and knew little about the legal aspects of coaching and administrating. With the combination of my lack of previous law knowledge and Professor Atkinson’s ability to present material that could be easily understood, I can with say with confidence that I learned more in this course than any of my courses. KIN 854 allowed me to see the enormous legal issues that coaches and administrators must deal with consistently. I now understand that I am responsible for my players and everything that happens to them, along with possible issues with opposing players. I am also responsible for problems that could occur with spectators and parents. While I was taking this course I did not know that I would be half-time athletic director for the next school year. The position is split between me and another teacher. Now as athletic director I am responsible for all the coaches, players, spectators and officials, in every sport. As I began my role of athletic direction I felt confident because of everything I learned in KIN 854. I learned about liabilities, negligence, specific coaching responsibilities, risk management and how to provide a safe athletic environment. I still reference some of the Power Points created by Professor Atkinson. I have used his waiver examples to create my own. One of the big assignments in this course was to create a risk management plan. The risk management plan was broken down into months; each month had a detailed explanation of preventative measurements taken to reduce athlete and spectator risk. The plan covered topics from equipment maintenance to coaches meetings. Some of my favorite assignments were the moot court cases where we were given a court cases and we had to decide the legal actions that could take place. Doing this also helped me understand preventative methods dealing with coaching and administrating. This course did not only teach me about the legal issues of coaching and administrating, but also problem solving skills, how to think creatively and proactively, and it cultivated the capacity to make wise decisions after successfully incorporating knowledge from the course.
If for some reason I ever get out of education I know I would love working with youth sports programs. In KIN 857: Promoting Positive Youth Development taught by Dr. Daniel Gould I learned methods to create positive youth development through athletics. The course gave me a better understanding of the role of youth sports and how they should be coached and taught. In Kin 857 I was required to create a youth development program that I could possibly use someday or at least use some of the aspects of the program. My program was called The Leadership Exploration and Development (LEAD) program. The program focused on developing leaders at the high school level through basketball. The program was designed to be run as a camp where potential team captains and other student-athletes in leadership roles would attend. The program focused on effectively communicating with those around you, motivating others, making important decisions, handling difficult situations, all while maintaining composure. The program would allow participants to be empowered in their leadership development and practice leadership skills. The student-athletes would actually be put in leadership situations and learn from real life experiences. For me to create and run this program might be a bit unrealistic, however, the methods used in this program to develop leadership are genuine and reflect research based strategies. I have already begun to use some techniques I learned from the readings that helped me develop the program. I have given my captains a lot more power and included them in more decision-making. I ask for their input on practices and game plans. I have them hold themselves accountable along with their teammates. KIN 857 also exposed me to a ton of youth development resources. One of the resources I started using immediately was the Positive Coaching Alliance. They provide articles and mini lessons I can use with my team and students to promote positive youth development.
During the MAED program I have taken steps toward becoming a better coach, I have also taken steps to become a better teacher. TE 831, Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology instructed by Dr. Douglas Hartman helped me gain knowledge on technology that I could use to facilitate student learning. Technology is constantly changing and advancing, and as a teacher I must do the same. I felt my undergrad classes had done a good job of helping me learn how to use technology in my future classroom, however, in the five years since I graduated technology has changed dramatically. Students are beginning to learn differently because they are constantly plugged into devices such as cell phones, iPods, iPads, Chromebooks, laptops and more. In order for me to be an effective teacher I must keep up with technology and TE 831 helped me do this. In this course I had to develop a vodcast, which is a video lesson using pictures and video clips. I added texted and a voiceover to the vocast which covered the topic of symbiosis. Not only were the assignments and readings helpful to advance my understanding of technology but the course provided numerous resources that I could implement into my teaching. TE 831 was an important class for me to take during the MAED program, however, I can say with confidence that this will not be the last teaching with technology class I will be taking. It will be vital that my teaching evolves with technology and I will probably take another course or participate in multiple technology professional development workshops within the next few years.
Another class that added technology tools to my toolbox was ED 870, Capstone, taught by Matthew Koehler. This entire course is based on creating an online professional portfolio. If you are reading this it means you are currently viewing my online portfolio. This portfolio includes information about myself, an annotated transcript, resume, essays about my teaching and learning along with an insight to my teaching. The portfolio can serve as an aid for future employers or anyone interested in my teaching and the MAED program. ED 870 also helped me learn about web design. Thanks to feedback and guidance from helpful teaching assistants and peers I now have a better understand of developing a website. I plan to use these newly learned skills to develop pages for classes and athletics. It has been a beneficial course to end a tremendous program.
During my journey through the MAED program I have greatly advanced my abilities to coach and teach. It was not an easy road and I was forced out of my comfort zone at times but this helped me growth as a coach, teacher and individual. Even though the program has concluded, I must stay up to date with the best practices in methods in order to be an effective coach and teacher. Thanks to the MAED program I have come a long way, but know there is always much more to gain. I now see my full potential as a teacher and coach. I hope I can help young people reach their potential as students, athletes and citizens.
