The One ‘Thing’ That is Certain This Fall

As educators breath a sigh of relief as they wrap up the school year and begin to regain energy from the challenge of emergency, remote teaching and learning, many are already trying to identify what the fall will bring.

There are so many possibilities with examples that include desks 6 feet apart and use of face masks or hybrid models, to continued remote teaching and learning. Fellow educator and friend, Axel Gruen has created a Wakelet sharing articles on all of the possibilities discussed. The most challenging aspect is that we don’t even know for certain what to expect. Not knowing makes planning feel nearly impossible and perhaps overwhelming.

If you’re like me, it leaves you feeling like this:

@twins42010

As a teacher, I wouldn’t want too much information because I might be able to plan accordingly. ##fyp ##teachersoftiktok ##xyzbca ##principalsoftiktok

♬ Plans in the works – austin_maguire

However, there is one thing that is certain this fall…

No matter what your scenario is, your students need you. They need all of us to foster relationships and connections between peers-to-peers and with you that lead to social emotional learning. As a mom and educator, even my own two teenage boys struggled with the transition to remote learning. Fortunately, due to having a supportive home, they handled remote learning relatively well. However, it was the lack of socialization and connection that they once received on a daily basis at school (from both peers and their teachers) that took a toll and continues to affect them as life still isn’t ‘normal.’ Seeing my own children face the struggles of social isolation and loss of sports, experiences, and time at school, causes my heart to hurt even more for those who had it much worse than my own children. We all understand that teachers did the absolute best that they knew how given this situation. Everyone grappled with how to transition from in-person to remote teaching in learning. But, the one thing I can guarantee for sure in the fall is that we have to explore how to reconnect with learners, foster authentic relationships and support social emotional learning.

Let’s take a step back for a moment though…

In order to provide all of this to our learners, we must ensure that we are first taking time to rest and rejuvenate ourselves. We and our families are still living through a global pandemic and might benefit from stepping away and taking time to engage in self-care before proceeding. I encourage you to take care of yourself in order to best care for others.

You may be interested in: To Be Your Best, Invest in Yourself: 7 L.E.A.P. Tips, Embracing Time to ‘Just Be,’ to Reimagine Tomorrow, or The Power of Gratitude.

In speaking (as a guest speaker) with a group of amazing educators within an online course recently, our focus was supposed to be on authentic learning and cultures of innovation. However, our participants weren’t ready to go there considering all of the uncertainty of the fall. During our time, our conversation shifted to the importance of self-care and fostering relationships and connections with learners; whether remotely or in-person. We need to be kind during all of this with ourselves and our learners.

Connecting With Learners

Whether remotely or in-person, it’s essential that we identify ways to connect with our learners and foster relationships. The relationships we develop with learners can often be the spark that ignites learning; leading to fulfillment. There are endless ways to foster relationships with learners. As a classroom teacher, I would mail students a letter prior to the start of school and include a picture of my family and pets. Letting students get to know who I was prior to stepping foot in my classroom set the tone that connections came first. There’s something special about receiving a letter in the mail that feels more personal than simply receiving a supply list. I also provided an online S’more newsletter that allowed me to share a digital version via email just in case students had moved within our district and to communicate with families.

Relationships are the foundation to any successful classroom, which means that we should not only begin with relationships, but ensure that we are consistent in fostering connections all school year. One way that we can foster connections is through utilizing tech tools that provide every child a voice and inspire creativity such as Flipgrid, Buncee, or Seesaw. Inviting students to share 30 seconds to 1 minute about themselves through a digital creation provides you insights and lets students connect with one another, too. We can empower learners to be storytellers of who they are as an individual; fostering a better understanding as students learn about one another.

Within my book, Take the L.E.A.P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation, I share three strategies that move kids and shape their mindsets to ripen them for innovative thinking and learning:

*Being relatable

*Connecting through experiences

*Listening to and validating feelings

Every single child has inner potential, and it’s the environment we create that helps learners blossom. Regardless of how we are teaching in the fall, we can (and need to) engage with our learners through greetings, responsive classroom meetings, and closings that have a focus. Although it can be easy to get lost in the focus of the content and curriculum, we cannot underestimate the importance of fostering relationships and connections at all ages.

As a side note, from my own experience, I think that sometimes teens are looked at as though they don’t need connections fostered as much as younger children. I believe that during a time in their lives when they’re trying to figure out who they are and where they fit, fostering connections continues to be essential. From speaking with other parents, it’s evident that kids of all ages struggled with the loss of all things associated with school, it’s a true testament to the importance of educators and all that school systems provide.

Every child benefits from feeling as though they can relate, connect, and have caring adults who listen and validate their feelings. By providing an environment (in-person or remotely) that fosters the growth of the whole child, our children become better equipped to learn. As George Couros says, “We have to make a connection to the heart before we can make a connection to the mind.” As much as many want to assess learning loss and make up for lost time, we must harness the power of relationships first and foremost.

We can also incorporate picture books to foster mindset and connections that lead to social emotional learning growth. Then, engage learners in discussions and utilize tech tools to demonstrate thinking or thoughts associated with the topic, to deepen understanding. As a classroom teacher, picture books were often a ‘go to’ to spark conversations and get learners thinking.

One Step At a Time

As we begin to look at the school year, we know that everyone will likely focus on safety first, which is completely understandable. But we want to ensure that our primary focus after safety is focused on reconnecting with our learners and identifying how we can address social emotional learning. Just as we need to assess where learners are academically, we have to identify how they’re doing in terms of mental health wellness, too.

So, educators, take care of you right now. Take time to pause and just be. We cannot give our best if we don’t first care for ourselves. Then, when the time comes, my hope is that you don’t feel that you need to conquer everything at once. All of the uncertainties can feel overwhelming. Placing the focus on relationships, connections, and SEL is what learners need more than anything. Let’s keep the first things first, and everything else will fall into place as we navigate this uncertain time together.

Additional Resources:

The Power of Connection for Social Emotional Learning

Leading With Connections & Relationships to Inspire Lifelong Learners

7 Ways to Foster Resilience in Children and Teens