It’s Not Called a Hole Punch

About a month ago, our weekly Bible theme was “God is holy.” Every day that week, our discussion or craft activity revolved around the concept of God’s holiness and what holiness means. For one of our crafts, I had planned for my students to make signs that read, “Holy Holy Holy.”  Once that part of the craft was completed, I handed out a hole punch to each student.  The next step in the activity involved holding, squeezing, and using the hole punch to make as many holes as possible in his or her paper.  

As it turns out, the students cooperated wonderfully; the hole punches did not!  These particular hole punches were almost impossible to squeeze, and this fact alone could have derailed the whole activity.  But it didn’t. My students, who work very hard on their fine motor skills, wanted to independently work through this productive struggle.  They did not want help; they wanted to do it themselves.

Wow!  I was so proud of their grit, resilience, and determination!  “Punch those holes, babies!” I thought to myself as I heard the sounds of clicking hole punches coming from all directions.  Some students chose to put their holes in an organized, straight, linear path.  Others just chose the time-tested “put them anywhere and everywhere” approach.  But all were fully capable of independently squeezing those monstrous hole punches!

Once the activity was over, I had one final follow-up question.  My question could have dealt with holiness.  My question could have dealt with math.  “How many holes did you punch?”  would have made for a wonderful cross-curricular connection.  Nope, I didn’t go with any of those questions.  I asked about the hole punch.  Here was my question, as I waved a hole punch in the air: “What is the name of this tool?”

And then it happened.  A moment of pure magic.  One of my brilliant scholars replied, “A holy punch.”

A HOLY PUNCH!  

Whether the student meant “a hole-y punch” or “a holy punch” would never matter to me.  I now had one more question; this one meant not for my students but rather for me:  “Why didn’t I think of that?”

And that, ladies and gentleman, is what the tool previously known as a hole punch (doesn’t that sound so boring and drab now?) will be forever dubbed in my classroom.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) states:  “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 

We and our holy punches will forever punch holes in the name of Jesus! And what a lesson I received in holiness!

**Mrs. Matthews teaches in the Discovery Program, and her students are in grades 3-6.  The Discovery Program is an educational program for students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or a related disorder characterized by similar traits as ASD who require a modified academic setting.**