A Whole New Ballgame

I was channel flipping the other day while tooling down the road and stumbled upon a song by Extreme, Hole-Hearted. My daughter looked at me like I had three heads when I exclaimed excitedly, “I love this song!” I do love it. 

Because I truly am a nerd, what I really love about the tune is the play on words: whole and hole. 

It is strange to me that these homophones have contradictory meanings (had to school myself on the the whole homonym-homophone-homograph thing after really thinking about my post last week about mourning and morning).  

The word hole indicates a gap, flaw or discrepancy whereas whole suggests that something is full, complete or unbroken.  So, these homophones are also antonyms.  Mind. Blown. 

To get the whole picture, imagine times in your life when you felt like there was a hole.  Maybe you lost a loved one; maybe you had a hard time deciding what to do with your life; maybe what you decided to do with your life left you feeling empty; maybe your master plan had holes shot in it. These are the times your whole world came crashing down around you. 

Now, flip your thoughts to a time when your life was complete. Personal relationships? Unbroken. Job? Fulfilling. You felt like you had the whole world at your feet.

Just like the English language, life has its antonyms, its discrepancies, its ups and downs.  Sometimes, you just have to buckle down and go the whole nine yards when you barely have the energy to move one little yard. 

I am living in the “discrepancy zone” right now.  I have recently been given an opportunity to serve at the site coordinator and elective teacher for AVID, a college-preparedness system we are bringing to my school. I am excited about this because I believe in the principles of AVID. I believe in these kids. However, it’s a whole new ballgame for me coming from teaching Special Education students and serving as their case manager for the last 5 years. 

What I am having a hard time reconciling is that I don’t necessarily have faith that as a whole system, education is doing what is best for our students.  I know AVID does. I know our Exceptional Student Education (ie. Special Education) program does.  The system, however, has some serious holes in it.  

As teachers, we are dedicated to giving our kids what they need. We differentiate. We individualize. We offer alternate assessments and choices of products. We give them the tools to think without telling them what to think. We can see the whole picture. The whole child. 

The problem with the system is that it wants all of these uniquely wonderful individuals to demonstrate mastery of standards on standardized tests. One test for everyone. No choice. No differentiation. No thought given to what their strengths and weaknesses may be. 

And, they keep adding more and more tests. These kids need another test like they need a hole in the head.  We jokingly refer to the last few months of school as “testing season.” Except it’s not a joke. The over-testing of the students disrupts instructional time.  It takes a toll on them mentally. 

And, because I think it’s unprofessional to refuse to do things that are part of my job duties, I proctor these tests. Over and over. And over. It’s starting to take a mental toll on me. 

So, now I have dug myself into a hole, and I am not sure how to tunnel out. Do I quit a job I actually love (most parts anyway)? Am I quitting the kids if I do so? Or, am I paving the way for a whole new way of thinking in education by making a statement?

As of right now, I have not arrived at any answers. But, I can guarantee you that I will spend a whole lot of time mulling it over.