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b'I stopped coaching football in the fall of 2000. That\\u2019s a long time ago. In the spring of 2018, Eric Myers, who\\u2019s the Track and Field Coach at our school, surprised me with an unexpected proposition, Jim\\u2026you need to get back into coaching. I need an assistant. Coach with me. We\\u2019ll have a blast! I was totally unprepared for this solicitation. I responded, Wow\\u2026thanks, but I\\u2019m long removed from the coaching mindset. It\\u2019s been years since I\\u2019ve coached. I\\u2019m sorry!

I was surprised by Eric\\u2019s proposition. That was a problem. I said no instinctively without giving it much thought. I promptly dismissed the idea and went on with my busy day.

Our minds, however, function in mysterious ways. Last summer on a gorgeous Ohio day, I needed something to do. My wife had an obligation, so I was free to entertain myself. I decided to go hiking at Mohican State Park near Mansfield, Ohio. For some odd reason, as I strolled over the beautiful trails surrounded by sun-dappled hemlocks, I started thinking about coaching again:

Man, it would take a lot of time out of my day.
Boy, parents become spastic whenever their offspring are even remotely engaged in competition.
I\\u2019m not as young as I used to be.

But these thoughts were overwhelmed by others:

When I was coaching I had a relational advantage in the classroom because I bonded with kids on the playing field.
While I\\u2019m not as young as I used to be, I\\u2019m still very fit and coaching might make me feel even younger.
I had a lot of fun coaching and there\\u2019s no reason to think that couldn\\u2019t be the case again.
And finally and most importantly, I have a lot to offer those kids in the role of a coach.

On my way home from the hike, I called Coach Myers and told him that if he needed me next year, I was available.

Now, fast-forward to February of 2019. Eric informed that he did need me to help coach running events, but he really needed a discus coach. This introduced a fascinating new variable. I was a speed guy in high school. I\\u2019d never picked up a discus in my life. Eric assured me that I could teach myself and clarified that practice started on the 4th of March, so I needed to get cracking!

This is a perfect example of self-directed learning. Over the past 2 weeks, I\\u2019ve researched, watched video, interviewed experienced throwers, and practiced the movements. To the amusement and annoyance of wife and offspring, I\\u2019ve thrown a lot of things against my basement wall mimicking throwing the discus. My form has evolved. I\\u2019m now excited to teach others. Please\\u2026repeat after me, When we teach ourselves, it sticks

Deanna Hess teaches dual enrollment English at Dover High School in Dover, Delaware. My story about self-directed learning dovetails perfectly with her story about a prompt she recently gave students. Deanna challenged her kids by placing the learning objective at the end of the prompt! In other words, the learning objective represented Point B in a journey. Point A and how students got to Point B, was totally up to them. If this sounds fun, courageous, powerful, and something you\\u2019d like to try in your classroom, then you, dear friend, have downloaded the right podcast. Deanna describes her evolution in thinking about the assignment, the twists and turns of its execution, her interesting observations during the process, and the potential as a future instruction tactic. There\\u2019s no doubt that this lesson was a powerful learning experience for Deanna\\u2019s students.'