Summer.
The mention of summer brings up visions of kids in pools, trips to the beach, lazy days on a reclining chair sipping something sweet, and, of course, peace...a lot of peace! At least that is what I imagine, and that is the summer that I hope you had! Honestly, this summer did not disappoint in many ways. There were trips to the beach and pool days and even traveling to places away from the home we have been trapped in for so many months. It was good to get away, for sure. It was even better to come home (I feel much less trapped now!). I am rested. Renewed. Ready. Kind of. Somehow, the "peaceful" feeling was rather elusive this summer. Instead, concern about the upcoming year kept pushing into my tranquility time, stirring up dust and clouding my thoughts. As we face this upcoming year, there are some unanswered questions that linger, haunt and even disrupt my sleep. 1. What will we face this year? 2. What changes will we have to make due to unexpected challenges? 3. Are we really ready to get back to "normal? I used to believe that, as a leader, I needed to have all the answers to these types of questions ready to address on the first day so that all staff would be well-prepared to leap into the year, like a life-preserver I supplied to all. Years of experience and COVID has taught me that this expectation is totally unreasonable! (It's amazing how many things we have learned from COVID!). So instead, I offer the little I do know to help as you transition out of the joy of summer into the joy of the school year. 1. What will we face this year?
This year will look a lot more like a "normal" year than before. There will be larger class sizes, regular bell schedules, longer days than we a used to, and lots of extra-curricular activities. In fact, it will feel so "normal" that it might be easy to fall back into old habits, expectations and approaches.
However, the students we face this year are not the same! They have faced unknown difficulties in the last 17 months. They have either figured out how to learn in a virtual/hybrid/shortened schedule or they have just turned off. The experiences they have had, endured, tolerated, or become numb to are being carried with them daily.
My own kids, who have not experienced loss, tragedy or significant trauma this last year, are SCARED! While they are usually excited to go to school, they are now nervous and filled with anxiety. When I ask, they indicate they are scared about:
making new friends (out of practice) and worry about being left out
learning and keeping up in a classroom setting
not be good at school anymore
not be good at taking tests anymore
These are kids who usually have no issues at school. Yet these are the issues that are stressing them out. Imagine how much more stress and self-doubt is in a student who was NOT successful last year?
Or the student who has attention struggles and is challenged by a full day?
Or the student who has social anxiety that they had figured out how to deal with before COVID?
These students are coming on the first day...with all their worries, stresses and fears. What will we face this year? We will face a lot of students who need us! They need us to be great teachers, like in the past. They also need us to believe in them and tell them that. They need to know we will work with them to get them back up to speed. These students need to know they are loved, valued and that we see the strengths inside of them.
2. What changes will we have to make due to unexpected challenge? I expect pivots. I expect challenges. I just have no idea what they will be!
However, as you know, I am a planner and I like to predict what might be necessary so I am as prepared as possible for a pivot. Here is what we need to think about when we plan for the upcoming school year:
the need to contact trace (consider a seating chart)
quarantined students will need to learn while home (possible continuation of Google classroom, film your lessons, have a student assigned daily to take detailed notes to send to all, etc)
necessary timelines for quarantined and/or sick students to catch up on work missed
I always prefer to be prepared for these types of situations than try to address them in the middle of the whirlwind of a regular school year and it's often stressful pace.
3. Are we really ready to get back to "normal? This question haunts me most, and begs another question. What parts of "normal" do we want to get back to and what parts of "COVID normal" do we still want to keep? There is a conflicting dichotomy to this. While I love the noise and energy of the regular school year, I found some balance and new priorities within the COVID schedule that I would like to keep.
While I love seeing students learn directly from their teachers, I saw some independence grow in students that I want to see more of.
While I know it is important that students learn responsibility, I watched students thrive when grace was given to them last year, and hope that continues.
While I appreciate teachers who are "all in" for their students, I want each of you to live your life in a way that continues to value family and your own well-being.
I'm sure you can add your own conflicting thoughts to this list.
So are we ready for normal?
I hope so.
Kind of.
But not just the old normal.
Let's reach for the next normal! Let's redefine and reimagine a better normal, together.
Kim
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