A rush of middle school boys tracked down the hallway to see "the list". We often struggled to get to class on time, but for some reason that morning we found a way to get to class 15 minutes early. I started scrolling down the list...and kept scrolling....and kept scrolling.
I scrolled through the first eight players. They were the A team. Tall, athletic and capable of putting the ball in the basket, which I learned was optimal. Then I scrolled through the next 15 players. This was the B team. Also athletic and capable of putting the ball in the basket, they just couldn't grow a full beard yet. The next list of 25 players or so (everyone left) was on the C team.
There my name was under C TEAM BLACK. I grinned and meandered on to my first period class.
Yes, I was excited that year to be on the "C" team that year. It really came as no surprise to me as I was on C TEAM WHITE the year before and although I had new tear-away pants and a pair of And1 shoes, I wasn't any more athletic than I was the year before. But what made me excited to be labeled as one of the 25 worst basketball players at my school?
The answer? One moment crafted by an adult that made sure all students had a positive experience in middle school basketball.
I had a few strengths in middle school, but basketball was not one of them.
Spoiler alert, this isn't a story in determination, work ethic and overcoming all odds to move up to the A team and score the winning basket. I was just as short and round at the end of the season as I was at the beginning. It is, however, a story about the power of moments.
In Chip and Dan Heath's book The Power of Moments they explain why some moments stick out above the rest and how we can work to create more of these for our families, colleagues and students. Some of the best moments come from filling in pits and turning them into peaks. I'd use a pothole analogy here, but I don't think a peak would be any better for your car than a pit.
Let me take you back to the moment that changed a "pit" into a "peak" for me in 8th grade.
The Chicago Bulls introduction music starts playing. The announcer bellows "Number 54 from Wilkins Elementary, Aussstiinnn Meeeekkks," and I run out to high five my teammates feeling like Marcus Fizer.
That 5-10 second moment is one I will always remember from my days as a middle school student. Don't get me wrong I still remember both of the baskets I scored as well, but being a part of "C Wars" was the highlight of my entire basketball career.
Other schools we played at the time didn't have the "numbers" we had (probably because they didn't have C Wars). As a coach having a lot of students out for a sport can be a blessing and a curse. How do we get all of these kids playing time? How do we get all of these kids practice time? With limited gym space and time and the fact that other schools typically didn't have a C team it would have been easy for our coaches to give us the short end of the stick.
It turns out it was quite the opposite.
With a nine-game schedule each C team was left with just one or two games against "real" opponents. The solution? C Wars.
The Heath brothers write about "raising the stakes" to create meaningful moments in time. When you dig deep enough the C Wars were really just intramural scrimmages. We were playing our teammates in our own gym, yet it felt like we were playing in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Coach Larry Gass raised the stakes for us.
More fans, full games, music and the biggest raising the stakes move of all.....an announcer. Those nights turned a pit into a peak and created a memorable experience for a lot of us athletically challenged students.
A lot of us would go on to "retire" after that year as 9th grade practice at 5:30 am wasn't nearly as exciting as being introduced over the loud speaker. There was certainly no return on investment for the high school basketball program in taking the extra time and effort to set up C Wars, but Mr. Gass knew that going in. He decided to create a "moment" anyway that many of us have carried with us to this day.
We remember peaks and endings the most. It is often breaking the script that helps moments stand the test of time. It's easy to raise the stakes for birthdays, weddings, retirements and other milestones. Students naturally remember the events from school in which stakes are already raised like prom or commencement.
As classroom teachers how do we break the script and create more of these moments for our students? As leaders how do we create more of these moments for our staff?
It's important to realize we have control. We can create our own positive moments and the biggest point of leverage occurs with pits, milestones and transitions. A good place to start is to think about the moments you remember. Were they mundane, everyday events or did they break the script? We know we don't remember every detail about every day but we do remember the peaks. We can create more peaks by being aware of current pits, multiplying milestones and being mindful of transitions.
I'll end with a few quick ideas. Please remember, this blog is free and you often get what you pay for.
"Signing Day" for new staff members. There is a lot of room for creativeness here, but I wouldn't limit it to staff "committing" to your building. Think of student teachers in your building that have landed their first job even if it isn't in your district.
Celebrate teachers impacting their 100th, 500th student, or their 1000th student. We often acknowledge years of service as though we are serving a sentence. This would certainly break the script and if you like the traditional milestones, keep them. Multiplying milestones is a great way to increase the power of moments.
Track days...for staff. This could look like finish line tape for PLC's to run (or walk) through after meeting goals or literally passing a baton from grade level PLC to future grade level PLC at the end or beginning of a school year.
If you think back to elementary school you may remember celebrations like the 100th day of school or Dr. Suess Day. A lot of these celebrations stop when students reach middle school and studies show engagement level starts decreasing in 5th grade. Coincidence? I'm not sure, but I think we can certainly find things to celebrate in middle school and high school.
Look for opportunities to make it real. If you have video announcements at your school can we reach out to see if a local news anchor wants to sit in for one day? Even better, see if our student anchors can record something for the local news!
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