Free Throws

We had a pretty rough morning at our place today. I found myself outside, too frustrated to play with my kids yet, even though I knew I needed to run them around more. I grabbed a basketball.

I shot the ball, letting out a little frustration, maybe hurling it with some added velocity against the backboard, trying to make it in, but not really coming close to making any shots.

I started to think about what I control, perhaps inspired by this timely, grounding article by one of my favorite teacher bloggers, Dave Stuart Jr.

I thought about Michael Jordan, a generational talent who brought himself into the conversation of who might be the single greatest basketball player ever with an almost fanatical willingness to work at his craft. I started to think about how many free throws Jordan must have attempted. Probably millions. Probably still out there somewhere, adding to that total.

I thought, "What if I just focus my energy on getting a little better at this." What if I were to walk out of this confinement having really improved at something, even if it's just something dumb like shooting free throws?

I focused. I struggled to string two together. Then I got three in a row. I found a rhythm. I hit five, then seven.

I got just a little bit better. I found something to do with my other hand that worked. I started to use my knees. I followed through. I repeated my shot and some of them were beautiful even as some luckier ones fell in.

There are many stressors in confinement. The reintroduction of teaching this week is one, although I enjoyed seeing the faces of my department colleagues so much today that I was sad to see them off as I ended our video conference. My wife and kids are struggling and will continue to struggle more than I will with the lack of interaction outside our family unit, but I was reminded that I need human interaction too.

I was reminded of this as well by my students, 31 of whom wrote me a letter I requested, giving me a little summary of their doings and mindset. Many of them are mourning the loss of face-to-face time with friends and school activities. Practically all of them are feeling restless. I wrote back to all of them, sometimes letters several paragraphs long.

My job description sometimes encompasses a lot of things outside of teaching the content. Mental health and making meaning out of a frustrating situation will become a focus.

I am believing more and more that our confinement is littered with opportunities for bettering ourselves. I become less of a content specialist teaching skills; I now pivot to a role as a mental health counselor, using literature, information, and fun to keep my students sharp, sane, and perhaps a little bit more ready to clean their own cages out.

Here we go!