Remembering Who I Teach

I have to always remember who I teach. I work with teens that want nothing more than to spend time with peers. That, of course, is something that has fallen to the wayside most of this calendar year, and almost all of this school year. 

Building community has been a focal point of my classes before 2020, now it's imperative but quite challenging. Students will talk to one another, but mostly stay quiet and prefer to work in small groups, or alone. Being at home tends to make them feel more reluctant to share and speak up, unfortunately.

My Social Studies colleagues introduced me to Gimkit last year. Gimkit is a gamified review that my students have really enjoyed. The company has come out with a version similar to an incredibly popular computer game and we played this version in class last week, as a review of the Constitution, Three Branches of Government, and the Bill of Rights. My students loved it and they came alive during our classes. I was overjoyed to hear them hollering (appropriately!) and good-naturedly teasing one another while playing. This seemingly small event was a glimpse at what school was and will hopefully be again soon.

I've been thinking about my students' wellness, too. I do know that some of my historians really don't go outside much, if at all, during this time. That must be very taxing on them. These next two weeks of Winter Break has the potential to increase the stress of many of these students, because they will have so much unstructured time. Schedules tend to decrease anxiety and give a sense of control. Schedules can also provide set time to work on goals and be proactive and accomplished during down time.

I am offering my students some assistance, empower them over break, and help them take control of as much as a 13 year old living in quarantine can possibly control. 

I am also giving them the gift of time in class to structure their schedules over break and demonstrating how critical these concepts are for all of us.

Each student received a list of non-technology based activities. They were asked to highlight at least 10 they might be interested in doing over break (activities like baking, talking to a relative about life when they were a teen, shooting hoops, playing a game they haven't played in years, etc.) I then called on a few students to share (learning how to juggle is very popular, who knew?) and then requested they highlight 1 more activity--one that they will complete for someone else (family member, friend, neighbor).

Students then needed to decide how often they will complete these activities (maybe journaling every day, teaching their pet a new trick and reinforcing it every other day, baking a new recipe once a week...) during break.

Before we leave for the year students will loosely structure their two weeks, using calendar templates provided for them. My hope is for them to feel they've got much to look forward to and productive and fun tasks to accomplish. I'll be using these templates in my own home, with my two teens, as well.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2021.