If ya give ’em an inch, they’ll take a mile.

I’ve never cared much for cynical views of students. This one bugs me as much as,

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.

I have always been disturbed by the notion that kids (humans who thirst for learning) won’t drink. Maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s the water. Horses won’t drink bad water.

And if we give them a wide-range, too much room, too much freedom, they won’t return. We have to keep them corralled.

Do we? Do we know that from practice? Or do we simply cling to the notion that we have to exercise our control over kids, because we’ve always thought we had to? And while, of course, there are examples of kids’ “success” with such approaches, there are examples from the other side as well.

“She’s on the verge of quitting school. And I just want to know what she can do to pass.”

This is from a phone conversation with a parent last week. Her daughter has done nothing this quarter.

“Well, first of all. She won’t fail. I won’t fail kids.”

“Well, we can do something. I want her to do something. I want her to learn.”

“Okay. How about having her just focus on the Night work? At this late stage, I think it would be incredibly overwhelming for her to try to do everything.”

And that is generally where the conversation ended. And the work started trickling in. Work, well done, I might add.

And then the flood.

10:45 PM. 11:20 PM. 12:24 AM. 12:49 AM. 1:04 AM. 1:17 AM. 1:42 AM. 1:51 AM. 2:32 AM. 2:52 AM. 2:55 AM. 3:05 AM. 3:13 AM. 3:28 AM. 3:31 AM. 3:41 AM. 3:51 AM. 4:03 AM. 4:25 AM. 4:44 AM. 4:55 AM. 5:06 AM. 5:13 AM. 5:16 AM.

These are the time stamps on her submitted work. She pulled an all-nighter. And I have been getting them “live” since 4:44 AM.

She, apparently, has decided to do it all, despite her knowing that she would pass, despite her knowing that a “C” was on the table if she completed the Night work.

I moved an inch, a small step closer to meeting her somewhere. And she ran a mile. She’s still running. I just got another. 5:23 AM.

Kids can and will do more than we believe. Sometimes, they just need the room–and rein–to show us.

Happy Monday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.