Simple Yet (Hopefully) Effective

Something I've always done as a teacher - for 20 years now - has been to greet my students at the door as they come in for class. Additionally, I have always stood in the hallway before first hour and during each passing time throughout the day. It's a great way to have a positive interaction with kids; remind them that you know their name; maybe ask a question about their day/weekend/previous day/game last night, etc. More than anything, what I hope it does is help kids feel welcome.

It's been a little different this year. Students are more spaced out in the halls. For much of the year, only half of the students have been here at a time. There can be a sense of emptiness and even loneliness when you're sitting outside your class waiting for some traffic to come by! Plenty of times over the years I've laughed to myself thinking I'm like Kramer from Seinfeld when he set a mock front porch.

 

Maybe it's generational, but I really enjoy seeing and talking to people in the hallway as they go by - students, fellow teachers, custodians - anyone. It's great to share laughs/jokes with the kids, and razz the older ones you had in previous years. 

It's been hard to get that same feel this year with masks and more distance. Couple that with the fact that kids have spent more time away from people than with others for the past 13 months and it's easy to understand how many are a bit "rusty" with some of the interpersonal skills. Eye contact, the knowing head nod, saying hello, etc. More days than not I am met with more awkward silence, stunted hellos, and short answers than I'd care to admit, but I am sticking with it! Serenity Now...

More than anything, this time has reinforced to me just how much I thrive on communicating, collaborating, and working with others - live and in person as much as possible! No matter what lines of work I find myself in, I know that this is something I'll need. Until next time neighbor...

Rumbling, Stumbling, and Bumbling...Into Learning

 This is really less about my students (at least the stumbling/bumbling part) and more about me and my experience these last months. As someone who began teaching by using a blackboard (at least a little...my student teaching experience in college featured a little bit of this -> the chalk using kind, not the LMS platform!), it's pretty crazy to think about how important, essential, and downright ubiquitous technology has become in this line of work. I understand that isn't a unique statement...this is pretty much how things are in most areas of life right now. No doubt that will only increase each and every year. 

Cue the bumbling and stumbling! I've always prided myself on being up-to-date with best practices, and not just tech integration. In fact, I would say one of my favorite things about being a professional educator is that you're always learning, always growing, always developing new skills. It's pretty integral if you want to be effective (along with a ton of other things...but that's a whole other post). 

This past year has brought more than its share of roadblocks and frustrations. Just when you think you might have things figured out, there's a setback, change of schedule, back to hybrid-back to distance-etc. that you just have to work through. As a result, I KNOW I have stumbled, bumbled, and failed more than a few times.

BUT!... But I've learned. I've grown. I've been able to reflect and decide what has worked well and what hasn't. I have had to adapt, try new techniques, build up aspects of my self that weren't necessarily strengths, and lean into my strengths more than ever before. For all of this, I am better.

This leads me to my students, and this fascinating concept of "learning loss" that gets tossed around quite frequently these days. 

-Have there been parts of 'usual content' that may have been missed over this past year? Yes

-Have students missed out on 'seat time' compared to every other year? No doubt!

-Have students experience more and varied difficulties now than ever before? 100%

Here's the thing...they have LEARNED so much. They've been thrown into the fire, for better or worse. They have had to adapt, try new techniques, developed new skills, and build up some of their own weaknesses that they otherwise (maybe) never would have been forced to develop. Knowledge will now always be at their fingertips through phones, computers, etc. Skills, intelligence, wisdom, and learning should always be happening and developing outside our classroom walls -- even in a "good/normal" year. Part of what I've realized is that a new responsibility on my end is to help foster and facilitate these opportunities for kids whenever I can; to create chances to learn, build, collaborate, and reflect at a high rate in my class; to not go back to any 'usual' things from before that weren't effective and implement as much as possible from this past year that came out of the darkness. 

I love the kids being back in school as much as possible for all the obvious reasons - socialization, mental and emotional health, a connected school community, etc. These have been the tragic parts of the past year. Maybe now we will all recognize just how important all of that is...and not just the potential "learning loss" identified through standardized tests.