The Coach: Leadership for Excellence -- An Audio Cassette Program Designed and Produced by Peregrine Press for the Amateur Softball Association Author: Dr. Peter S. Pierro Narration: Dr. Robert Grupe Copyright © Peregrine Press, 1987 Introduction In the late 1980s I spent three years as a professor at Langston University, an Historical Black College and University (HBCU). LU is located just north of Oklahoma

Models of Teaching/Coaching Summer, 1997 Peter S. Pierro, Ed.D., Instructor Session - Week #6 Takehomes A. M - Players Skills and Concepts Takehomes P.M. - Participants' Beliefs and Growth The Handout to the Class The participants were told that we would be dealing with what they had learned that would 1) help them to become a better coach and 2) help them to become a better learner and creator of their own future lives and careers and learning to learn with other p

Models of Teaching/Coaching Summer, 1997 Peter S. Pierro, Ed.D., Instructor Session - Week #5 Participation Experience College Football Team Practice The Handout to the Class The thoughts of the creators of this course was that the students must have personal activities that have them involved in the process of learning and interaction with their classmates. These experiences were to be utilized in the later sessions. Morning Session #9 Activity: Field Trip to the Foo

Models of Teaching/Coaching Summer, 1997 Peter S. Pierro, Ed.D., Instructor Session - Week #4 Behaviorism Psychology Edward Thorndike, (1874-1949): Theory of Learning The Handout to the Class The theory of behaviorism is that your behavior is directly shaped by your environment. By studying an individual's environment and controlling it, behavior can be modified and measured. This was first developed by John B. Watson. B. F. Skinner later developed the theory o

Models of Teaching/Coaching Summer, 1997 Peter S. Pierro, Ed.D., Instructor Session - Week #3 This week’s featured model and founders Student Centered Learning, Player-Centered Coaching, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Arthur Combs. The Handout to the Class A Historical Philosophical Statement Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching. And he said: No man can reveal t

Models of Teaching/Coaching Summer, 1997 Peter S. Pierro, Ed.D., Instructor Session - Week #2 This week’s featured model and founder Memorization, Jerry Lucas and Harry Lorayne The Handout to the Class Yes, that’s the Jerry Lucas you watched playing with that great Ohio State Big Ten championship basketball team with John Havlicek and Bob Knight, the winning team at the 1960 Olympics, and three profess

Models of Teaching/Coaching Summer, 1997 Peter S. Pierro, Ed.D., Instructor Session - Week #1 This weeks’ featured model and founder Non-directive Teaching, Carl Rogers The Handout to the Class In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Carl Rogers gained attention for his style of teaching - Non-directive Teaching - a model that we might consider more learning that teaching. His approach was to give his students the resources they needed so that they could teach themselves.

Dear Reader: We are going back to 1997 to share a story with you from that time. I was teaching there at that time. I taught the EDUC 5003 (graduate) level classes at that time but we did not have this sports version EDUC 5003Sports. I wish we had offered it then - I would have liked teaching it. Students: We are going on a Learning Journey and I’m not sure where we’re going. We, at the Department of Instructional Leadership, have been asked to develop

Questioning - a final look. Socratic Questioning - A definition Socratic questioning is a form of inquiry-based dialogue that encourages critical thinking and self-reflection by asking probing questions to explore the assumptions, evidence, and implications of an idea. In education, Socratic questioning can be used to help students analyze concepts, differentiate between systematic and fragmented thinking, and in becoming independent learners. Comment This questioning stra

Stage Two - 1955 to 1966 - Prelude to My Life as a College Professor In this session, I want to deal with some differences between being a traditional college professor who uses the lecture method and being a professor like Dr. Margaret Carroll (and me) who use the Student-centered Learning method. Because we are dealing with the thoughts and feelings of our students we want to make the best use of the interactions between ourselves and our students and in the interactions

This occurred in the Summer of 1965. I was fulfilling my doctoral residence requirement at Northern Illinois University. I was preparing to take the two-day written examination and I thought it would be a good idea to sit-in on an Education Curriculum class. I asked Dr. Margaret Carroll, chairperson of my doctoral committee and professor of the class if I could do that and she thought it was a good idea although I had missed the opening session. There were about 15 students

Teaching Experiences During the 1954 school year I got a call from a teacher friend telling me that I needed to move to where he was teaching at the Barrington, Illinois, school district. I spent the next 11 years as an elementary - junior high school teacher and curriculum director in schools based on Progressive to Humanistic and Cognitive psychologies. I wrote my masters thesis on an Individualized Reading Program in my fourth grade classroom. In 1963, I was accepted in

Introduction During my 1950-2002 teaching career, I had a great number of changes occurring in my learning life and in my teaching methods. When I began to look at my history with Teaching Methodology and Psychology I saw a set of four developmental stages. So I will be dealing with the first stage in this week’s blog. Stage One – 1950 – 1955 Teaching Experiences Country School, Grades 1-8 Grades 5 and 6 Grades 7-8 Basketball Coach I graduated with a B

Introduction Last Sunday, May 31, 2026, I turned 100 years of age and one of my feelings has been that I need to take advantage of this new status in my life to renew my career in psychology. I thereby will be devoting these blogs to that adventure for the near future. This will be an intensive study related to the study of the mind and behavior as described in the APA definition of psychology submitted below. This blog is the kick off. I hope you will join me in this ventur

That’s the title of the discussion I was asked to share with my church study group last Sunday. My good friend, Rev. Douglas Boydon, assisted me in this venture. If you are reading this blog on the date that it’s being published, tomorrow will be the 100th anniversary of my birth. I, modestly and actually, suggested that this is my 100th Year of Trial and Error. Let me just share some of my thoughts with you. I was born in LaSalle, Illinois, on May 31, 1926, to parents tha

That’s the title of the discussion I have been asked to share with my church study group this Sunday. My good friend, Rev. Douglas Boydon, will be assisting me in this venture. Here is the list of some of the things we may kick around. MY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION – These writings are in Grassroots Coaching or in one of our Blogs. I. Readiness Three Rules – Edward Thorndike 1. If Pat

Peter McGahey & Peter Pierro August 30, 2024 When we wrote this blog back in 2024, we were exploring player centered coaching and the ‘roles’ of the coach. Now, we want to focus on the Mentor working with her team as a unit. You’re a member of your team as well as being a mentor to the team and its individual members. Do not put yourself above and apart from your team. You are all in this together. If your team has a bad game, you don’t say, “The guys were

Peter Pierro April 8, 2022 While dealing with Maturation issues, we teachers and coaches encountered human growth and had very little or perhaps even nothing to do with the factors involved in the work we will encounter with Readiness; speed of foot, arm power, interest, social means (e.g. teamwork), intelligence, body movements, cooperation, awareness, and all the rest of what being a human being consists of. “What can Fran do for himself as a player and

Peter Pierro & Peter McGahey First shown March 26, 2022 Maturation The maturing of children has always been a difficult issue to deal with in both education and in sports. What is the correct grade to introduce fractions to children? When is Susie mature enough to hit a golf ball? Do girls mature earlier in life than boys so boys should start their school days a half year or so older than girls? In my work as a teacher and as a coach, I have seen many instanc

Peter McGahey & Peter Pierro First shown February 18, 2022 I’m always happy to quote from the works of my fellow Illinoisan. The wisdom of his message is given in clear, understandable, and caring terms. Your team, the Falcons, are featured in the following scenario: Conversation overheard during a break at your local Parent-Teacher Meeting; First Parents: We are new here and our two children have been accepted as players with the Falco