Friday afternoon's group will stay on campus for a study hall.Report to room 2117.
Please be on time and make sure you bring school work.
No, you may not "rest your eyes"!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Friday Afternoon Group
Friday afternoon's group will stay on campus for a study hall.Report to room 2117.
Please be on time and make sure you bring school work.
No, you may not "rest your eyes"!
Parent Meeting II
We've added a few new athletes to our rosters.We also had a few parents who were unable to attend our first parent meeting back on August 25.
We'll have a second meeting to try to catch anyone that missed the original.
Let's shoot for this Thursday, the 7th at 7:00 p.m. in the MISD Natatorium classroom.
I understand this is short notice. If you can't make it then, we'll work out individual meetings.
Infinite Campus Printouts & Log Books
Looks like we'll have to postpone the printout idea. The menu that allows teachers to print reports doesn't seem to be available to individual students/parents. We'll have to formulate another plan to help us stay on top of grades.
Friday will mark the end of the first progress report grading period. Please take care of your business in the classroom so we can see A's and B's!
Log books are at the pool and ready for you to pick up tomorrow morning. We will have a swimming test set this week. In addition to your normal entries, please write down your test set times and calculate your average (where I can easily find it).
Log books will be due Friday after morning practice.
Friday will mark the end of the first progress report grading period. Please take care of your business in the classroom so we can see A's and B's!
Log books are at the pool and ready for you to pick up tomorrow morning. We will have a swimming test set this week. In addition to your normal entries, please write down your test set times and calculate your average (where I can easily find it).
Log books will be due Friday after morning practice.
It's Still Early
Remember last year's post on Deliberate Practice? I think it's worth a re-post. It's still early in the season. You should be doing all those "little" things right - each and every day.
I try to speak with you when I see something we need to address. I can't see it all. Be a good teammate by a) positively reminding others about those "little" things, and b) accepting those reminders without being offended.
From 12/3/10:
You may recall me mentioning something called "deliberate practice". Geoff Colvin, author of "Talent is Overrated" describes eight (8) characteristics of deliberate practice:
An Understanding of Deliberate Practice
A summarization of Colvin’s eight characteristics of deliberate practice follow below. Readers will find a more in-depth explanation as well as a number of examples in Colvin’s original article.
“Deliberate practice is designed specifically to improve performance with the key word being ‘designed.’ The essence of deliberate practice is continually stretching an individual just beyond his or her current abilities. By contrast, deliberate practice requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improved, and then work intently on them. The great performers isolate remarkably specific aspects of what they do and focus on just those things until they’re improved; then it’s on to the next aspect.”
“Deliberate practice can be repeated. High repetition is the most important difference between deliberate practice of a task and performing the task for real, when it counts. One is the choice of a properly demanding activity just beyond our current abilities. The other is the amount of repetition.”
“Feedback on results is continuously available.” Though this is obvious, it is “not nearly as simple as it might seem, especially when results require interpretation. In many important situations, a teacher, coach, or mentor is vital for providing crucial feedback.”
“It’s highly demanding mentally. Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it ‘deliberate.’ Continually seeking exactly those elements of performance that are unsatisfactory and then trying one’s hardest to make them better places enormous strains on anyone’s mental abilities. The work is so great that it seems no one can sustain it for very long.”
“It’s hard. This follows inescapably from the other characteristics of deliberate practice, which could be described as a recipe for not having fun. Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands. Instead of doing what we’re good at, we insistently seek out what we’re not good at.”
There is a definitive ‘before the work’ component. “Self-regulation begins with setting goals – not big, life-directing goals, but more immediate goals for what you’re going to be doing today. In the research, the poorest performers don’t set goals at all; they just slog through their work. Mediocre performers set goals that are general and are often focused on simply achieving a good outcome. The best performers set goals that are not about the outcome but rather about the process of reaching the outcome.”
There is a ‘during the work’ phase. “The most important self-regulatory skill that top performers in every field use during their work is self-observation. Even in purely mental work, the best performers observe themselves closely. They are able to monitor what is happening in their own minds and ask how it’s going. Researchers call this metacognition – knowledge about your own knowledge, thinking about your own thinking. Top performers do this much more systematically than others do; it’s an established part of their routine.”
There is an ‘after the work’ component as well. “Practice activities are worthless without useful feedback about the results. These must be self-evaluations” and “the best performers judge themselves against a standard that’s relevant for what they’re trying to achieve. Sometimes they compare their performance with their own personal best; sometimes they compare it with the performance of competitors they’re facing or expect to face; sometimes they compare it with the best known performance by anyone in the field.”
I try to speak with you when I see something we need to address. I can't see it all. Be a good teammate by a) positively reminding others about those "little" things, and b) accepting those reminders without being offended.
From 12/3/10:
You may recall me mentioning something called "deliberate practice". Geoff Colvin, author of "Talent is Overrated" describes eight (8) characteristics of deliberate practice:
An Understanding of Deliberate Practice
A summarization of Colvin’s eight characteristics of deliberate practice follow below. Readers will find a more in-depth explanation as well as a number of examples in Colvin’s original article.
“Deliberate practice is designed specifically to improve performance with the key word being ‘designed.’ The essence of deliberate practice is continually stretching an individual just beyond his or her current abilities. By contrast, deliberate practice requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improved, and then work intently on them. The great performers isolate remarkably specific aspects of what they do and focus on just those things until they’re improved; then it’s on to the next aspect.”
“Deliberate practice can be repeated. High repetition is the most important difference between deliberate practice of a task and performing the task for real, when it counts. One is the choice of a properly demanding activity just beyond our current abilities. The other is the amount of repetition.”
“Feedback on results is continuously available.” Though this is obvious, it is “not nearly as simple as it might seem, especially when results require interpretation. In many important situations, a teacher, coach, or mentor is vital for providing crucial feedback.”
“It’s highly demanding mentally. Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it ‘deliberate.’ Continually seeking exactly those elements of performance that are unsatisfactory and then trying one’s hardest to make them better places enormous strains on anyone’s mental abilities. The work is so great that it seems no one can sustain it for very long.”
“It’s hard. This follows inescapably from the other characteristics of deliberate practice, which could be described as a recipe for not having fun. Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands. Instead of doing what we’re good at, we insistently seek out what we’re not good at.”
There is a definitive ‘before the work’ component. “Self-regulation begins with setting goals – not big, life-directing goals, but more immediate goals for what you’re going to be doing today. In the research, the poorest performers don’t set goals at all; they just slog through their work. Mediocre performers set goals that are general and are often focused on simply achieving a good outcome. The best performers set goals that are not about the outcome but rather about the process of reaching the outcome.”
There is a ‘during the work’ phase. “The most important self-regulatory skill that top performers in every field use during their work is self-observation. Even in purely mental work, the best performers observe themselves closely. They are able to monitor what is happening in their own minds and ask how it’s going. Researchers call this metacognition – knowledge about your own knowledge, thinking about your own thinking. Top performers do this much more systematically than others do; it’s an established part of their routine.”
There is an ‘after the work’ component as well. “Practice activities are worthless without useful feedback about the results. These must be self-evaluations” and “the best performers judge themselves against a standard that’s relevant for what they’re trying to achieve. Sometimes they compare their performance with their own personal best; sometimes they compare it with the performance of competitors they’re facing or expect to face; sometimes they compare it with the best known performance by anyone in the field.”
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Log Books & I.C. Printouts
Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend. If you're starting to miss swimming already, join the club!
Here's a video of the 100 free from this summer's national championships. Several current and former Longhorns were in the final.
Pretty good swim for GWG, right? Check out the replays of the start, turn, and finish.
p.s. Log books were due Friday.
p.p.s. Infinite Campus grade printouts are due Tuesday.
Here's a video of the 100 free from this summer's national championships. Several current and former Longhorns were in the final.
Pretty good swim for GWG, right? Check out the replays of the start, turn, and finish.
p.s. Log books were due Friday.
p.p.s. Infinite Campus grade printouts are due Tuesday.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Notes
Everyone,
BURIED right now! Only time for some quick notes:
- I've been getting your fan shirt orders! I hope to tally them and place the order next week. Money won't be due until they're ready. If you've not done so, please get me sizes and numbers as soon as possible.
- I'll get together with parents that missed last week's meeting soon. We're still adding a few more athletes to our rosters, so once that's done we'll reschedule for those that didn't make it last Thursday.
- Morning group gear is a must. Please check the official website for morning group requirements. The afternoon group should have similar items, but we're not requiring the snorkel and hand paddles.
- Our morning group put in a great effort on a very tough kick set! Way to go, team!!
- We're working on our morning bus shuttle timing. Kids have gotten to 2nd block a few minutes late this week, but we are adjusting the schedule.
- We have some move-ins that will need to complete previous athletic participation forms. I'll print them out and we'll get those rolling in the next couple of days.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
This Week
Swimmers,
If you've not taken care of your paperwork, you need to wrap that up this weekend!!!
The morning group will splash Monday at 6:45 a.m. Please be early so we can issue lockers and you'll have time to stretch.
The afternoon group will ride the bus to the natatorium and we'll try to splash at 1:45 p.m. We'll try to get lockers assigned and do some stretching before we hit the water.
Afternoon dry-land will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Monday. That should give y'all plenty of time to get from campus to the pool, get into your shirts/shorts/shoes, and stretch before we begin.
I think we're all excited about getting started on the 2011-12 season.
Have a great weekend and we'll kick things off Monday!
Button
If you've not taken care of your paperwork, you need to wrap that up this weekend!!!
The morning group will splash Monday at 6:45 a.m. Please be early so we can issue lockers and you'll have time to stretch.
The afternoon group will ride the bus to the natatorium and we'll try to splash at 1:45 p.m. We'll try to get lockers assigned and do some stretching before we hit the water.
Afternoon dry-land will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Monday. That should give y'all plenty of time to get from campus to the pool, get into your shirts/shorts/shoes, and stretch before we begin.
I think we're all excited about getting started on the 2011-12 season.
Have a great weekend and we'll kick things off Monday!
Button
Winter's Just Around the Corner?
Swim Parents,
If you have a fireplace at your house/apartment, please drive over to our Lake Ridge property and pick up some firewood!
Most of it:
- is oak (with some hedge apple and ash as well)
- came from smaller trees that needed to be thinned
- was cut in May of 2010 (hot summers dried it out quite well)
- has been cut short, so it'll also fit in a smaller fireplace/chiminea
All firewood is right in front, so feel free to just pull in and load up.
There are a few larger pieces of hedge apple that y'all are also welcome to load up and split. That will be the longest/hottest burning wood we've got.
Also, we rented a chipper/shredder last year to chew up all the brush. There are several piles all around the property. Feel free to shovel some into the back of your vehicle if you want it.
Finally, snakes are a possibility when picking through the wood pile. Keep an eye out so you don't get a surprise.
Thanks,
Button
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Lockers
Lockers were cleaned out over the summer.
It wasn't pretty...
This year, you'll be providing your own lock for your locker.
We'll have locker checks in October, December, and March.
Keep your locker locked when not in use!
Have necessary gear and clothes handy.
Don't store gear/clothes on top of lockers, on floors, or on benches.
Keep your locker clutter-free.
Use only the locker you have been assigned to.
It wasn't pretty...
This year, you'll be providing your own lock for your locker.
We'll have locker checks in October, December, and March.
Keep your locker locked when not in use!
Have necessary gear and clothes handy.
Don't store gear/clothes on top of lockers, on floors, or on benches.
Keep your locker clutter-free.
Use only the locker you have been assigned to.
Try-Out Make-Ups
Swimmers,
If you missed them in July, you'll need to make up your try-out.
Try-out sets are here.
Please choose one of the following:
Monday, August 22nd, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 23rd, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 24th, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Thanks,
Button
If you missed them in July, you'll need to make up your try-out.
Try-out sets are here.
Please choose one of the following:
Monday, August 22nd, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 23rd, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 24th, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Thanks,
Button
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Label Your Gear/Clothes
One more item to buy during tax-free weekend:
Sharpie
Swim gear should have two sets of initials: "T.H.S." & your own.
Dry-land clothes already have our T.H.S. logo, so just make sure your initials are on the tag.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Be Prepared!
Swimmers,
When y'all do your tax-free shopping this weekend, please pick up a spiral notebook for swimming. I'll be collecting these each Friday - for a grade. I'll return them to you each Monday.
We'll meet in my classroom (2122) during the first week of school. We'll take care of paperwork and watch some swim videos.
If you've not been placed into swimming athletics, please drop by my room Monday or Tuesday so we can get things sorted out.
We'll begin morning swim practices at the natatorium on Monday, August 29. Please have your gear by then.
Options for getting gear include the D&J shop at the natatorium, D&J's main store in Dallas, and Swim Outlet*.
Barefoot shipped us more dry-land shirts and shorts. Shirts are $5 each and shorts are $10 each. For thirty dollars, you'll have two of each.
Varsity (morning) group gear list:
mesh gear bag
kickboard
pull buoy
fins
hard plastic hand paddles
water bottle
snorkel
lightweight tennis shoes (for swimming)
training suit (2)
goggles (2)
dry-land shirt (2)
dry-land shorts (2)
quality running/cross training shoes
*Don't look for Team Gold to fly in via chopper, though.
When y'all do your tax-free shopping this weekend, please pick up a spiral notebook for swimming. I'll be collecting these each Friday - for a grade. I'll return them to you each Monday.
We'll meet in my classroom (2122) during the first week of school. We'll take care of paperwork and watch some swim videos.
If you've not been placed into swimming athletics, please drop by my room Monday or Tuesday so we can get things sorted out.
We'll begin morning swim practices at the natatorium on Monday, August 29. Please have your gear by then.
Options for getting gear include the D&J shop at the natatorium, D&J's main store in Dallas, and Swim Outlet*.
Barefoot shipped us more dry-land shirts and shorts. Shirts are $5 each and shorts are $10 each. For thirty dollars, you'll have two of each.
Varsity (morning) group gear list:
mesh gear bag
kickboard
pull buoy
fins
hard plastic hand paddles
water bottle
snorkel
lightweight tennis shoes (for swimming)
training suit (2)
goggles (2)
dry-land shirt (2)
dry-land shorts (2)
quality running/cross training shoes
*Don't look for Team Gold to fly in via chopper, though.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Missed Try-Outs
Swimmers,
Several of you were out of town during try-outs. As a results, some of your schedules do not show your proper placement in the swimming athletic periods (morning or afternoon).
Our counselors will do their best to make schedule changes, but we cannot put off making up try-outs much longer.
Since the pool is closed for maintenance this week, we'll have to get everyone caught up during the first week of school.
Once it's ready, I'll post a schedule for make-ups here. Please check back later this week.
Thanks,
Button
Mark Your Calendars!
Our mandatory parent meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 25.
The plan is to meet in the MISD Natatorium classroom (next to the coaches' office) at 6:30 p.m.
We'll be teaming up with the THS golf teams (coached by Brad Higgins) to work a couple of Friday evening (7:30 p.m.) concession stands at Vernon Newsom Stadium.
Summit's swim parents worked at these last year and were very successful.
Our dates will be September 23 and October 7.
If you've been unable to work at our natatorium concession stand, this is a great opportunity for you to pitch in!
I'll pass on more info when I get it.
The plan is to meet in the MISD Natatorium classroom (next to the coaches' office) at 6:30 p.m.
We'll be teaming up with the THS golf teams (coached by Brad Higgins) to work a couple of Friday evening (7:30 p.m.) concession stands at Vernon Newsom Stadium.
Summit's swim parents worked at these last year and were very successful.
Our dates will be September 23 and October 7.
If you've been unable to work at our natatorium concession stand, this is a great opportunity for you to pitch in!
I'll pass on more info when I get it.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Updates
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Shanghai World Champs are coming to a close.
Swimming World's coverage is here.
FINA official results page is here.
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nobody can take it away from you.
Riley "B.B." King
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If you didn't take advantage of today's MISD physical offering at Summit HS, please schedule with your family physician right away.
Doctors are very busy with athletic physicals at this time of year. You'll need to take the new (and improved!) MISD paperwork with you. You can print it out here.
There is plenty to read, initial, and sign - so get an early start on your 2011-12 paperwork!!
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Our swimming/diving UIL alignment is the same as last year's. View the 5A alignment here.
Start getting motivated for 2011-12 by checking out last season's district and region results.
2011 District 9-5A Results
2011 Region III-5A Results
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Here's a little re-post. It's one of my favorite backstroke videos. Watch Ryan's rotation - he gets almost completely onto his sides while keeping his head back and stationary.
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Mansfield HS's Ian Betts ('11) qualified for USA Swimming's Junior Nationals earlier this week. Check out all of the MAC results from championship meets:
Sectionals
TAGS
Monday, July 25, 2011
Shanghai World Champs
Television coverage of the 2011 Shanghai World Championships is available from NBC and Universal Sports.
Schedule:
July 24 through 31 - 7:00 p.m. - Universal
July 30 & 31 - noon - NBC
Yesterday, both 400 meter free champions swam incredibly well-paced races. Check out these splits:
Federica Pellegrini - 2:02.30 - 1:59.67
Tae Hwan Park - 1:51.02 - 1:51.02
That's right. Pellegrini negative split the race and Park even split it - right down to the hundredth of a second!
Schedule:
July 24 through 31 - 7:00 p.m. - Universal
July 30 & 31 - noon - NBC
Yesterday, both 400 meter free champions swam incredibly well-paced races. Check out these splits:
Federica Pellegrini - 2:02.30 - 1:59.67
Tae Hwan Park - 1:51.02 - 1:51.02
That's right. Pellegrini negative split the race and Park even split it - right down to the hundredth of a second!
Friday, July 22, 2011
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