Your Students: Some Assembly Required

I've never met a Clearance Shelf I didn't love. When the bright yellow tags indicate something that is not what it used to be, it just sucks me in, like Gollum to the ring,  begging to be examined and put in my cart. Recently I bought not 1, but 2 (let's double our savings!) copper garden spinning things. My backyard flower gardens are a beauty to behold, but I'm always looking for some additional yard art and the $5.00 spinners were just the thing. Once I got them home and unpacked on the lanai, I realized why they were such a great price (like that's never happened before)...the "simple assembly required" turned out to be the understatement of the century!
The "directions", a term I'll use loosely, had a mix of numbers and letters that didn't quite apply to the items in the box. Oh, and just removing the items required tools worthy of someone trying to break out of a maximum security prison! But once the items were released from the confines of the box, there seemed to be more ways than one to assemble them. Do we keep these silver ring thingy's? And what about these huge nuts and bolts? They weren't on the "directions". Well, once one was assembled, after many pleasant verbal exchanges between my husband and I, I proudly stuck it in the ground in the flower bed. Then, I attacked the second one, reminding myself of how much money we saved! Well, on this one we concluded that the silver disc thingy's were part of the packaging to secure the spinner in the box, and the huge nuts and bolts shared the same responsibility. Not necessary. So I finished the second spinner, put it outside, then got the first one to re-assemble it according to what appeared to be the correct procedure. And of course we threw the packaging away, with the "directions", but saved the silver disc thingy's and nuts and bolts, adding them to one of the numerous coffee cans of hardware in the garage, because you never know, right?
Once I sat back and admired our accomplishments, and waited for them to actually spin, I started to
think: how many of our students come to us this way? Packaged nicely and tightly, but once we "open" them up, find that they aren't as easy to work with as we hoped or expected. In fact some are secured so tightly, it takes greater effort on our part to get them to open up, feel comfortable with us, want to be out with the rest of the class. Do we give up just because of the challenge presented? Of course not. Like the challenge of the spinner, most of us feel the bigger the challenge, the more our determination rises to reach that difficult student. We persist in "assembling" them to become the best they can be because we know the outcome will benefit them in so many ways. It might take a team, more interpretation of the "directions" that they come with, but we press on regardless. And how about those extra parts that came with my spinners? Do your students have some extra baggage? Sadly, at their young ages, they come with more baggage than I accumulated in all my years as a student. We patiently see what is needed and what can be eliminated. We see if the students can stand alone, learn in our classroom, relate to others, without the nuts and bolts that seem extraneous to us. But if they need them, they need them. Don't save them in the coffee cans, as I did. Let them hold on to what they need as long as you professionally and personally deem necessary.
AFTER I assembled and displayed my spinners I had a couple questions: how much did I really save on these beauties, and were there  comments as to how other customers assembled them. My search proved that their original price was $20, which I wouldn't have bought them for, but as I said, the yellow clearance tags can fool me easier than P. T. Barnum ("there's a sucker born every minute" which may or may not have been said by him) and saving $30 on the 2 really got me jazzed. But the reviews from customers were the kill card. One star at the best on most reviews...some one half, some none. All with the same comments I had: bad directions, extra parts,  didn't work, fell apart (still waiting for that to happen), etc. Should I have read them before purchasing them? For $5 each? And let someone else get them? No and No! I got them determined to make them work...use my green thumb/midas touch/I'm a librarian! No other super powers required!
So when we've gotten those students with "assembly required" did we check their accompanying folders/ test data/ anecdotal accounts before accepting them into our class? Of course not! Well, we probably didn't have a chance to be honest, but even if we did, it shouldn't sway how we teach them. The same love and perseverance we have for the neatly packaged and put-together kids also goes for the challenges, and more so. Our staff enjoyed a dynamic presentation by Brian Mendler on his book, Discipline With Dignity, in which he very colorfully guided us to some unique strategies on dealing with the students who present such challenges. It was the perfect kick-off for our new school year.

So friends, whatever your role in education, I hope you are starting the 2018-2019 year with fresh hope and anticipation of the awesome "packages" that will be delivered to your doors. Welcome them all with open arms, equipped with the tools to enjoy, equip, and assemble a group of students and
classroom that will be one of your best ever. They're lucky to have you! Remember to inspire each and every one of them to the greatness that someone once did for you, and Stay Grounded!