Today was locker day, which is a really big deal in sixth grade. The students look forward to receiving their lockers with a mixture of glee and trepidation-- they desperately want a small piece of real estate in our crowded and cavernous building, but the concept of a combination lock is completely new to most of them.
We do our best to prepare them for the experience of standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of their classmates, spinning their dials precisely to align the levers and free the shackle from its latch. There are printed directions and verbal reminders, like left to the second number and stop the second time and right to the third number right away. We also do individual tutorials, calling out the exact movements and numbers to the student as he or she attempts to open the lock.
Even so, they have to be able to tell left from right for our coaching to be meaningful in the least. "You're left-handed? Cradle your lock in your right hand," I told a student this morning. "Now spin it to the right several times."
"Which way is that?" she asked, and I knew we had a challenge.
"Toward your thumb," I improvised. She followed my direction. "Now turn it toward your pinky," I said, "and then back to your thumb. With a satisfying click, she pulled her lock open.
Later in the day she came back to me. "I can do my lock!" she reported breathlessly. "It's easy-- thumb, pinky, thumb!"
I gave her a thumbs up.
Despite such successes, there are always tears of frustration and panic on locker day, too, but the sixth grade teachers are well-prepared to help the kids through, mostly because we know something they do not: In a week? They will all be opening their locks as if they had done it all their lives. And in a month? They'll forget that there was ever time when they couldn't.
We do our best to prepare them for the experience of standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of their classmates, spinning their dials precisely to align the levers and free the shackle from its latch. There are printed directions and verbal reminders, like left to the second number and stop the second time and right to the third number right away. We also do individual tutorials, calling out the exact movements and numbers to the student as he or she attempts to open the lock.
Even so, they have to be able to tell left from right for our coaching to be meaningful in the least. "You're left-handed? Cradle your lock in your right hand," I told a student this morning. "Now spin it to the right several times."
"Which way is that?" she asked, and I knew we had a challenge.
"Toward your thumb," I improvised. She followed my direction. "Now turn it toward your pinky," I said, "and then back to your thumb. With a satisfying click, she pulled her lock open.
Later in the day she came back to me. "I can do my lock!" she reported breathlessly. "It's easy-- thumb, pinky, thumb!"
I gave her a thumbs up.
Despite such successes, there are always tears of frustration and panic on locker day, too, but the sixth grade teachers are well-prepared to help the kids through, mostly because we know something they do not: In a week? They will all be opening their locks as if they had done it all their lives. And in a month? They'll forget that there was ever time when they couldn't.
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