That's a rabbit hole where I could go down. It's full of "what ifs" and "hows." There's a world of personal protective equipment, masks, and sanitization stations. There are conversations about physical distance, one-way hallways, and safety protocols. I can't go there yet.
So, where do I turn? To the things, I am certain about.
What do I know with 100% certainty? In my personal life, I know the love of My Wife, children, and family are certain. I know of dear friendships that have been maintained during this time and yearn to be replenished with less physical distance, more handshakes, and plenty of hugs.
And what do I have absolute clarity about in my professional world? That whenever we have a restart in education, we will have to make it about one thing and one thing only: relationships. Yes, we will have to transition back, and there will be assessments. There will be plans to remediate, plans to maintain, and plans to enrich our students' education. We will need to set goals, have conversations with parents or guardians, and work diligently together to achieve those goals.
But before all of that, we must re-establish our relationships with our students. The abruptness of our departure did not allow for the slow transition of winter to spring to the end of the school year. We lost the field trips, the quarter ends, and typical mileposts to the final days of school. Without little warning, our school year unceremoniously ended. And not only that, we have labored through emergency distance teaching, which is challenging (at best) for everyone involved, especially our students.
Know that I'm not at all quibbling with any of these decisions. The public health ramifications were and are clear. Given the lack of a vaccine, physical distance is the only way to stop this virus from transmitting. Until we know more about the virus itself, the antibodies, and the epidemiology, this is the responsible way forward. It's working in our state. According to Michael S. Pieciak, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, we have the lowest three-day and seven-day growth rates of the virus in the country (VT Digger, May 15).
And it can't be forever. At some point, our buildings will have children and adults back in them. There are models from other countries that are being considered. Our Agency of Education, in partnership with the Governor's Administration, is working to share guidance and parameters in the coming weeks. Public health officials are continuing to monitor the cases in our state and inform us on how we can best begin to consider education in the coming months. But as of today, we don't know what that will look like.
So what do we know? We know that no one ever chose to go into education as a profession for the paycheck. We know that it's not about June, July, and August, except for the skeptics. And we know that the choice to go into education was not for the glory. It was for one thing, and one thing only.
The choice to be a professional educator is made when one is hoping to find a path forward in service to students and their families. Period. That's it. That's the list.
Further, we know the only way that we can make a difference in the lives of our students and their families is through relationships. It was never about content, it was never about scores, it was never about essays, or projects, or dioramas. Do you know what most children worry about on the first day of school, each and every school year in this country? Will my teacher like me?
Education was about relationships on March 17, 2020, the last day before school dismissal in the state of Vermont.
Education is about relationships, as we navigate unchartered waters of emergency distance teaching.
Education will be about relationships, when school restarts again, no matter what it looks like.
About this, I am certain.
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| Photo courtesy of www.edutopia.org |
I've been thinking a LOT about “...June, July, and August…” and the “...path forward in service to students and their families.”
ReplyDeleteWhere I am at in my ever evolving thoughts is that the three things listed below have been highlighted and magnified, but hopefully not entrenched, by our current situation. It also has helped me realize that these are inextricably intertwined.
1) Relationships are the foundation for EVERYTHING,
2) Class and Privilege impact Educational Opportunities, Engagement, and Outcomes, and
3) Meaningful Learning can happen Outside of Classrooms.
By focusing on relationships we can begin to address the issues of class and privilege through a better understanding of students and their families. Relationships are essential for recognizing and appreciating the challenges they face, their basic needs, and our own implicit biases that may be standing in the way of educational opportunities, engagement, and outcomes. As we move forward we need systems that are intentionally designed to establish a sense of trust and safety, a climate of acceptance and belonging, and a focus on community.
That brings us to the learning that can happen outside of our classrooms. This is happening by necessity, of course. Much of this is focused on delivering academic content through remote learning that six months ago we would have thought impossible. As important, or perhaps more, I continually see and read about educators across Vermont working tirelessly to ensure that students' emotional and basic needs are being met. Critical to accept, however, (from what I’ve observed) is that those educators that have been the most successful in helping students learn of the classroom had strong and meaningful relationships the classroom.
That brings us back to “...June, July, and August…” and the “...path forward in service to students and their families.”
Knowing that we simply don’t know what the Fall semester will look like, we must act now to ensure that we are intentional developing relationships with our students this summer so that we may begin to identify challenges they might face, establish an understanding of their needs, and to establish a learning environment (no matter what it looks like) that is one of acceptance and built to help all students learn and succeed.
So, the question is “What systems can we develop now to implement and engage in over the Summer that will help us have those established meaningful relationships as we enter the Fall?”
I've been thinking a LOT about “...June, July, and August…” and the “...path forward in service to students and their families.”
ReplyDeleteWhere I am at in my ever evolving thoughts is that the three things listed below have been highlighted and magnified, but hopefully not entrenched, by our current situation. It also has helped me realize that these are inextricably intertwined.
1) Relationships are the foundation for EVERYTHING,
2) Class and Privilege impact Educational Opportunities, Engagement, and Outcomes, and
3) Meaningful Learning can happen Outside of Classrooms.
By focusing on relationships we can begin to address the issues of class and privilege through a better understanding of students and their families. Relationships are essential for recognizing and appreciating the challenges they face, their basic needs, and our own implicit biases that may be standing in the way of educational opportunities, engagement, and outcomes. As we move forward we need systems that are intentionally designed to establish a sense of trust and safety, a climate of acceptance and belonging, and a focus on community.
That brings us to the learning that can happen outside of our classrooms. This is happening by necessity, of course. Much of this is focused on delivering academic content through remote learning that six months ago we would have thought impossible. As important, or perhaps more, I continually see and read about educators across Vermont working tirelessly to ensure that students' emotional and basic needs are being met. Critical to accept, however, (from what I’ve observed) is that those educators that have been the most successful in helping students learn outside of the classroom had strong and meaningful relationships inside the classroom.
That brings us back to “...June, July, and August…” and the “...path forward in service to students and their families.”
Knowing that we simply don’t know what the Fall semester will look like, we must act now to ensure that we are intentional developing relationships with our students this summer so that we may begin to identify challenges they might face, establish an understanding of their needs, and to establish a learning environment (no matter what it looks like) that is one of acceptance and built to help all students learn and succeed.
So, the question is “What systems can we develop now to implement and engage in over the Summer that will help us have those established meaningful relationships as we enter the Fall?”