The Deep End

A quick glance as I stepped into the pool revealed three people lounging and chatting, which was unexpected. I thought I was in time for my normal water aerobics class. They could tell by my confused expression that I didn’t know about the schedule change and simultaneously pointed to the other pool. “No big deal,” I thought, “I’ll just pop over there.”

Oh . . . it was big deal. My feet could touch at only one end, and I spent the entire hour struggling to do things well (or at all), providing myself with positive little pep talks, and watching the clock and wondering how it could possibly be going so slowly.  

About halfway through, when I was tempted to say, “Sorry, this was a mistake, I shouldn’t be here,” my mind shifted to those students who always feel like they are in the deep end in our classrooms. You know the ones. They are watching the clock, wondering how many minutes until recess, lunch, time to go home. They are the ones who ask to use the bathroom when they don’t really have to go. (The bathroom! I should have excused myself to use the bathroom!)  

I probably needed three things to have been more successful that day:

• explicit instruction
• modifications
• encouragement

And oh, my goodness, it is the same for some of our students, right? What a gift we provide when we can break things down in a way that makes them clearly understood. What a gift when we provide small modifications to ensure success. What a blessing when students get specific, detailed encouragement that suggests we know them, we see them, and we believe in them.

Summer is here for many of us. But as we look forward to a new group of students who will quickly become a new classroom family, let us be ready with our lifeguard lenses to see who is in the deep end.

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