Perspective Matters

The dining room table was strewn with seventh grade papers on Friday afternoon. Thank goodness it was then that my son and I checked in on the online grade book to find the state of emergency. For it is now Sunday and instead of the mountain of materials that seemed an insurmountable climb, there are now file folders, labeled by subject, containing printed grade sheets and check marks for each assignment that didn't make into the teachers' hands. 

It appears that while I was giving my students round-the-clock attention to their writing, one very important student in this house needed some attention of his own. I don't need any help finding the solution to this problem.

But I (we) do need some help deciphering what to do with the eight inches of papers that still have no home. I'm puzzling over quite a few questions, actually, as I ponder the fact that I work in the same building where my son goes to school. Do I push this much paper on my students? Do my students recognize the names of assignments? Or better yet, could they explain why each matters? Do the parents of my students feel as bewildered as I do right now?

Whatever the answers, the good news is that he's focused now on homework that's due tomorrow. That fact offers satisfaction enough.