Once again I find myself fighting to gain the upper hand in one of my classes and, in the face of what feels like daunting odds, I inevitably frame the situation with classic Marine thinking.
One way to win on the battlefield is to get inside the “reaction loop” of the foe. That means doing what you want to do before the enemy has a chance to realize it and react. Ideally, if you pull that off once you can build on the success with growing speed and impact, leaving the enemy paralyzed and confused (read defeated) as you continually move in faster and increasingly unexpected ways.
Right now, I’ve got a pack of 8th-graders who have gotten inside my reaction loop. They are coming up with new ways to draw attention to themselves and disrupt my teaching faster than I have been able to respond. That means I am locked in a race to check their tactics, devise and execute new plans and gin up alternatives for the unexpected — a race I have 23 hours to complete, before we convene again.
They have numbers on their side, and frankly, experience. They’ve spent longer wrecking lessons than I have been teaching. And unlike the Marines, I don’t have massive firepower on my side.
Just determination.
