4th Down

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It's time I came clean about who I really am. What I'm about to tell you may shock you. It may disgust you. But you deserve to know the truth about me. I'm a Patriots fan. And I'm proud of it. Tom Brady is the G.O.A.T. Belichick is a genius. 

In Superbowl LI, the Patriots were playing the Falcons, who had built a substantial 28 - 3 lead by the waning minutes of the 3rd quarter. Things looked bleak. It looked like the haters were going to get their wish. 

The usually prolific Patriots offense was sputtering and was ineffective against the Falcon defense. The Patriots punted 4 times during the game, giving the ball back to the team that was already beating them. Fans of the game are already well aware of what I am about to tell you, sometimes it's o.k. to punt. Sometimes punting is the right play. In the end, the 4 punts did not hurt the Patriots as they completed the greatest comeback in Superbowl history to win 34 - 28 in overtime. 

Sometimes our students are in a similar situation. They shouldn't be, but for some reason or other they get behind. All of the time they put into trying to get caught up takes their attention away from what they should be focusing on in the present. As a result, they get further behind. They're concerned. You're concerned. Their parents are concerned. You all want the same thing but it's starting to look they're down 28 - 3.

As teachers we want our students to learn everything that we teach. If we didn't, we wouldn't teach it. But when it is clear that our desire not to have a student miss anything is causing them to miss quite a bit, we need to let them know that it's o.k. to punt. Sometimes punting is the right play.

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