Holes

Did you ever dig a hole in the ground?  Not a little one where you planted petunias, but a hole that had some depth.  I recall digging, by hand, the foundation for a family room addition to my childhood home in 1983. That foundation was 48 inches deep and believe me, Dad had the tape measure in full use.  Mom and Dad decided to expand the house after the kids were gone – go figure.  Anyway, the work was pretty brutal under the hot August sun working with a single spade.  Although I was only 25 at the time, my muscles ached, my back was sore, and I was sweating like Mike Tyson at a Spelling Bee.  Periodically, my brothers and I would take a break to get some water.  We were faced with a dilemma.  There is no way that we could jump out of the hole that we made.  It was four feet deep and my vertical is slightly above the thickness of a credit card.  We found out pretty quick that it is not possible to jump out of a hole.  No way.  To get out of a hole, you have two choices:  (1)  crawl out of the hole or (2) have someone pull you out.  We used both.

Do you have any students who are in the hole?  Any students who have fallen behind?  Any students who have missing assignments?  Any students who are struggling?  Of course you do.  If not, take a deeper look at the data and reassess.  Okay, they’re in the hole. Now what? You – yes you, have three choices.  You could direct them to jump out of the hole by snapping to it, bucking up and making up for their transgressions.  Ain’t gonna work.  That leaves you with two choices.  You could make them crawl out of the hole because after all, they caused the problem, right?  Before you direct them to crawl out of the hole, make sure that they know how to crawl. If they can do the work, make them crawl by assigning working lunches until their crawling is complete and they are out of the hole.   If they are truly academically challenged with the material, you can ask them to crawl until the cows come home, but they won’t get out of the hole.  That leaves you with one final choice – you can pull them out of the hole.  Work with them so that they understand the material.  Make sure that they have it before you go “all punitive” on them. Find time in Resource Period or in Enrichment Period to intervene.  Kids will continue to work their way into holes and they will be in your classes.  It’s important to respond correctly. You don’t necessarily need to understand the hole, but rather who is in it.