Puzzling

My father loves puzzles. My entire life, there was always a puzzle in progress on a table in our family room. My Dad was always working on a puzzle while at home. Some of my best conversations with my Dad were sitting at that table watching him struggle with puzzles. He is one of the smartest men I’ve ever known and the words of wisdom imparted while I watched him work will never be forgotten. We lived in a small town, many years before the internet, so finding puzzles was a treasure for my Dad. He completed some of the hardest puzzles I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, my Dad can no longer work on puzzles. In fact, a puzzle has been sitting on his puzzle table for a little over a year.

During my last visit, I woke in the middle of the night. Not wanting to wake up my Dad by turning on the tv and unable to find anything interesting to read, I found myself at his puzzle table. This puzzle was ridiculous. It was of a sunrise over a massive ocean. In short, it was 10,000 pieces of the same darned color.  I struggled with this puzzle. I fought with this puzzle. I got angry. I was delighted when I found pieces that belonged together. At times, I became frustrated. At times, I was thrilled. I worked hard-real hard. I was determined. I was sure I would eventually get this puzzle. 

As I completed this difficult task, I started thinking about school. Finishing the frame of the puzzle was most important, just like a good lesson plan. We can’t come into our classrooms without a great plan of what we are doing. Our students come in different shapes, sizes, colors. Just like each piece of the puzzle, each student is unique.  Some pieces fit together nicely while others won’t come together no matter how hard we try.  Putting together that puzzle required creative thinking. I could not use just one process. I also could not use the same process I use on my 100 piece puzzles. I had to use new ways of thinking-much like we do with our students when the old ways are not working. I quickly did the easy parts and spent the bulk of my time on the hard parts.  It required patience. It required a lot of time.

In the early morning hours, as I had been working on the puzzle for most the night, my Dad woke up. He came into the family room and saw what I was doing. He shuffled over to me and started making a couple of suggestions. At first I wanted to reject his advice. He had let this puzzle sit for almost a year-I was the one who had worked on it for 5 straight hours so who was he to come in and start giving “advice”. But I realized that he may have advice that mattered, he may have something that I want to hear. He may just be able to place that one piece that would help me finish. I didn’t reject his help. I listened and I worked hard on what he suggested. Collaboration is key, but being open to that collaboration is the engine that key will start.

I finished the puzzle. I had the greatest sense of accomplishment. I stood back and admired my masterpiece.  This is the same feeling I have at the end of each school year. Later in the afternoon, my Dad told me to put the puzzle away.  I thought I would cry.  I had worked so hard for so long and I was told to take it apart of put it back in the box.  He then handed me a new box. It was time to start another puzzle. And I did. But I used the lessons from the first puzzle to start the next one.  Our work in our school is not much different.