Teaching Thought #64

Teacherscribe's Teaching Thought #64

How can you fill the ‘pits’ in your classroom?

In Chip and Dan Heath’s book, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, the authors focus on two interesting types of moments we all have.

Peak moments are easy to note.  We have often have ceremonies to celebrate them: graduations, weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, and so on.  

Pit moments, though, are not so easy to note as we don’t have ceremonies to celebrate them.  I mean who is going to have celebrations for a divorce, a DWI, a death, a surgery, or cancer?

The authors an interesting way of looking at this.  They note how when someone has a ‘pit’ in their lives, they instinctively seek to fill that pit.

So what are pits?  Okay, we don’t need to focus on the ‘heavy’ pits, like death, divorce, or illness.  

Here is a great recent example, my step-daughter, KoKo, is engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Cody.  She has been searching for places to hold the wedding. She has decided to have her wedding in Brainerd.

A friend of mine, Kelsey, recommended up Pine Peaks Wedding and Event Center by Pine River.  Now, I know this sounds odd to look at selecting a wedding venue as a ‘pit’ moment, but when you think of all the headaches that are involved: massive amounts of money, finding spots for all family members, finding a place for the bridal supper as well as the wedding, having a variety of activities to keep everyone happy – and this is exactly what Pine Peaks Wedding and Event Center did.

Dave, one of the owners, along with his wife, Julie, did everything they possibly could do to fill these ‘pits.’  Massive amounts of money? Yes. Certainly. But Dave went out of his way to explain how and where every cent we were paying went and how he was saving us money compared to other places.  Finding spots for all family members? Yep. He has spots for up to 8 RV’s and motorhomes on his property. He has a deal worked out with a local RV rental shop. He can have them set up and ready for the family for up to four days.  And the price is cheaper than any hotel for four days. Plus, we will be on the property to help KoKo and Cody during their wedding prep. And if you want to stay at a hotel, he had a list all ready for us, with prices and he provided those that offered discounts in advance.  AND he offers a free shuttle service for you. A place for the bridal supper as well as the wedding? This place is a one stop shop. They will help the couple with everything. They have a separate area where we can cater or grill are own supper for the groom’s dinner. Activities during the wedding and dance?  Dave and Julie have a remodeled John Deere A and a hay wagon for the family to take a hay ride around their large corn field. They have two different spots on their property for weddings. They have a large patio area where they wheel in a large firepit and grill up S’mores for the kids. They have swings and fish ponds.  There is something for everyone during the ceremony.

This is a great example of filling pits.

So, how do you fill the pits in your classroom?  Think of it this way, what are the things kids hate about our classes?  I know kids hate slideshows (since most are boring slides full of text), so I work very hard to have the most engaging slideshows in school.  Kids hate busy work. So I try to eliminate as much busy work as I possibly can. Kids hate homework, so I strive to just give kids homework that is going to matter, not busy work . . .

How do you fill the ‘pits’ in your classroom?  Or, just start by asking yourself what ‘pits’ are there in your classroom?