Back to School 20/21: Be The Solution
The school year is starting. Oh how I long to go school shopping, organize and lay out my curriculum, and prepare my classroom for students.
I want to know the kids who were placed in my care this year, to connect with them, and think of ways to inspire their learning. After 20 years of teaching, it has simply become a habit for me.
But I will not be managing a class this year. After five years of failing health, and several diagnoses trying to explain why this could be happening, I am home on disability. I hate that word. It suggests I am incapable, useless.
Like it or not, I am a 2%er. That means I cannot step foot in a store (let alone a classroom) or hang out with friends and extended family. This has been my reality since the beginning of March.
Although debilitating, it has afforded me a perspective I could not have gotten otherwise.
So as I enter the conversation about this awful pandemic and the subsequent effects of it on our society (namely, education), I implore all not to get caught up in the politics that have come center stage.
Instead, I want to speak to you as a human, from the perspective of both a mother and educator.
Educational Impact
Towards the end of last school year, things shut down. Life took a drastic turn. As we hunkered down in our houses and watched, the world forever changed as we know it.
From a teacher’s perspective, March was not too jarring. It was the end of the school year. Most of the year’s curriculum had already been taught in 3rd-12th grade.
Students were missing the state test and end-of-year projects and activities, but the effect on learning would not be too drastic.
As we look to start the school year now, my mind is reeling with all that our children will lose. The social and academic setbacks, connections with their teachers, classmates, and other school personnel. And these effects will have their lasting impact.
From the Perspective of a Teacher
With this in mind I process, just as I would have in years past, about how to minimize the effect of these things that are out of my control.
Every year students came to me with a collection of years of experience and habit. Part of my job as their teacher was to help them sort these things so that they could maximize their learning potential.
The beginning of the year is packed with self-examination, character building exercises, and learning how to become a part of something that’s bigger than yourself, all the while trying to figure out where you fit.
It is only after the main stage is set that we can begin our curriculum learning.
So I think about that stage now. Even after six months, it is still unknown, volatile, and scary. People we think should have answers don’t.
And as we shift our homes into classrooms, learning standards are at the front of our minds. How am I going to manage all of this? Will my children fall behind?
A New Arena
It is here, at this precise point that I’d like to begin. In all the fear-mongering that is present, I believe the educational platform has the most potential for irreversible damage.
So I beg you not to get caught up in it. As a parent and teacher, I ask you to think beyond this moment.
As far as pandemics go, with the perspective we have from history, this too shall pass. In another year we will be looking back in awe of how we survived it all. One year is not that much time. Our children are resilient and strong.
With that in mind, we must protect and nurture them in a way that we might not have thought of before now. We must protect them, not only their bodies but their minds. It is at this point, in chaos and uncertainty, that we all come face to face with our greatest enemy — ourselves.
Chillin' At the Bottom
When we feel hopeless and scared, our minds shift. According to Abraham Maslow, we fall to the bottom of the pyramid. Our focus moves inward. We need our basic needs met first; the physiological becomes priority (basic care of the body). Preserving life is essential. Once that is satisfied, we can move up to the next step — the care of our minds.
In the midst of everything falling apart, our best efforts must be spent teaching our children how to hold things together, both physically and mentally. They feel the chaos too. This skill is taught through perspective. We have to believe we are capable, and that some things are under our control.
Learning Goals
We must help our children face their biggest fears in this pandemic, which — news flash — aren’t always going to align with yours.
1) Ask questions, get them talking. Take their lead. You might be surprised where they go with it. The most valuable things I’ve learned, I’ve learned from children.
2) Stay mindful. Do not get caught up thinking too far ahead or looking back. Start a project, something you have always wanted to do. Be in the moment and enjoy what it has to offer.
3) Make time for creative processing and problem solving. Like no time before, now is when you can help your child develop their talents for future jobs. What are their strengths and interests? Look for ways they can learn and grow in these — build their learning around that.
4) You know what is going to be best for your child. Protect her respite space. Once you found and created the arena where your child can live and grow in the midst of the crazy, defend it with everything you have.
5) And while the educational institution is made up of humans, human like everyone else, grabbing for control when they feel the most out of control, resist. Grades (even if enforceable, given the context) are secondary. Growth is essential.
Be The Solution
To my fellow educators…
Keep perspective. Your students are knee-deep in the waters of this new world we are navigating. I know you have your own set of challenges figuring out what school will look like this year.
Learning must extend beyond the walls of a classroom (or computer screen). Provide support and direction, but don’t get caught up in the vicious cycle of micromanagement. Let go.
To my fellow parents…
Please understand. Your child’s teacher is giving it everything they have. Like you, they are trying to figure it all out, some entering a crash-course in technology. Be gracious.
As far as your child’s education goes, from a teacher’s perspective, keep it basic. Manage school work with a fine-toothed comb. More is not always better.
Find a series or topic your child would enjoy (get their input), map out a plan, adjust as need be, and read, every day. For math, check out Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org). It’s free to sign up and use.
My own children have enjoyed honing their typing skills (typingclub.com), learning in a virtual world (adventureacademy.com), and developing their artistic talents daily. We also leave room for hobbies.
But most importantly, as you head into the beginning of the 2020/2021 school year, accept all the things that are going to go wrong, because they will. Be kind and courageous, always looking to be part of the solution.
For who we are and the people we are becoming, nurture your heart and mind. Because in the end, I am convinced, we will have become more capable than we ever could have imagined.
A brilliant mind in the making...
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