Follow Through

In sports the follow follow through is the most important thing if you want to be successful. You can't succeed without it. In golf (the only sport I really excel at) one has to follow through on the swing, a lot of people think the back swing is the most important but it's not. If you don't come all the way through correctly your ball won't go the right way. And in basket ball if you don't follow through on your shot the chances of making it go in the basket go down significantly. I am sure there are many other sports where this is true but my knowledge is limited (insert jokes and laughter here).

In teaching the follow through is incredibly important as well. I have learned that the hard way in the past. The stakes are high when dealing with kids. They expect you to follow through on EVERYTHING, even if you say something in passing or by mistake. Sometimes it is hard to remember everything I say which is why I am careful not to make promises to my kids I know I can't keep good or bad.

I wrote before about Ricardo, the student who recently got out of the gang and has been doing better. He has begun to slide as far as his grades and attendance. We (those that are involved in his care at school) are starting to come down on him and yesterday I had to take him in to the administration for a "real" talk. It was tough, he doesn't want to take responsibility, wants us to lay off and let him be. I had to tell him that unless he starts to take this very seriously I'm out. This is difficult for me. I have invested every lunch period and at least 2 hours a week of other time for three months into him.

For a kid like Ricardo being tough is the only way to get through to him and following through is the only way to make it stick. I don't want out. He's got a good heart and has made progress and I don't give up without a fight but I will. I will be sad and heartbroken but come Monday morning at 7:49 if he's not in my room I'm out and he knows it. The balls in his court and it's time for him to follow through.