Happy New Year from all of us at ELA Matters! However you spent your winter break, we hope you found time to rest, recharge, read a great book or two and are ready to jump back into teaching.
This school year has been a trying one for sure – new expectations, student trauma, Tik Tok challenges, COVID restrictions, quarantining, teacher and sub shortages, large gaps in student learning and the list goes on… There is much we can’t control, so in our first post for 2022, we want to provide you with some encouragement.
Strive For Progress
It is unrealistic to think that teachers will be able to help students deal with the trauma of the pandemic AND close the vast learning gaps all in one school year. While this is the dream of many administrators, politicians and parents, teachers know it will take a few years before things normalize.
As you set goals for your class, strive to help students make progress. Progress for each student will look different. For some students progress is simply relearning how to be on a schedule or what it means to be in a classroom again. For other’s it is challenging them in reading and providing opportunities for research and writing.
The goal this year has to be focused on helping student begin to move forward – that will take time and we need to give that to them.
Believe In The Power Of YET
Posters with this phrase hang in many classrooms around the world as motivation for students to continue on their learning journey, yet, how many teachers are forgetting the very message we give to our students. Yes, students have been through a lot in the past two years, but so have teachers. You are teaching in the middle of a worldwide pandemic – don’t forget that!
If you are still struggling to figure out how to manage students exhibiting trauma, how to teach in person and quarantined students at the same time, how to reintroduce the classroom to students, just know, it is ok if you haven’t figured it out yet. Show yourself the same grace you want your students to show themselves when they are struggling or learning something new.
You Are Enough
There are so many negative messages out there about teachers not doing enough. We all went into teaching because we want to make a difference in the lives of students. In pre-Covid times teachers are were able to meet many of the needs of their students – not all, but many. Now, in the middle of a pandemic, the needs are so great, that we find we can’t meet the numerous student needs and are exhausting ourselves trying – that is the teacher’s heart. What you are doing is making an impact in the lives of students, you are making a difference!
It is easy to listen to the outside voices saying “you are not enough,” when you sometimes feel that yourself, but you ARE enough. Stay strong knowing you are doing an amazing job for your students.
As you head back into the classroom after break, we hope you find solace in knowing you are not alone this school year. We are learning to navigate in this new world together. All of us here at ELA Matters will continue to share ideas with you that you can easily implement in your classroom. Connect with us here or over on our Instagram page. Thank you for starting your 2022 with us and we look forward to doing great things together this year!
