Reflections and Adjustments for this School Year

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This year has been an absolute roller coaster so far. Many of you have had to adapt and change your teaching practices this school year. I have had some days where I have been angry, frustrated and some days where I have been lit up with joy and pride. I know you all have also had days like these as well. All these mixtures of emotions can be draining for us educators. My struggles are like so many other teachers. Students weren’t turning in assignments. My newcomers were not understanding what was happening. We are all struggling in how to support the students in the new virtual learning environment.

I was at my breaking point. It was after one of my morning classes and my students were not turning in assignments. Even after I explained more than 10 times. Even more, I was met with silence after trying to encourage engagement in my classroom. It was as if I was speaking to myself everyday. I reached out for help and they gave some amazing suggestions. I was still at a loss of what in the world I can do to help my students. I tried almost everything I could think of that would work. The students still weren’t turning in their assignments and not engaging in the class.  That was when I reached my true breaking point. I was so frustrated with myself and the students I spent the last minute of class in silence.  

Thinking back I needed that 1 minute of silence to collect my thoughts with the class. They also needed that 1 minute of silence as well. I wish I could say the days after that got magically better, but there were a lot of light and lightbulb moments. Let me take a moment to share those with you. I realized that I needed to have even more patience with my students. A lot of the students’ internet may be slow or they need some time to get to the assignments. I was getting frustrated, but realized this is not a normal time we are operating in. I needed to provide grace and patience. 

Another struggle came with turning in assignments. One of those biggest assignments was the Paragraph Builder assignment the students do each week. I noticed that my newcomers were struggling with turning in and completing this task. I had blank pages from them every single week. My light bulb moment came when I realized they needed more scaffolding and less of me explaining it 10 times a day. I looked at the writing rubric and implemented scaffolding into the daily writing assignment. This additional scaffold and structure is going to help my students so much. 

My third struggle was building relationships. Building relationships has always been one of my core values as an educator. This school year needs that more than ever. Since I can’t be in person with them, I need to be even more intentional about how I am building relationships. I am working through this by planning in-class activities, doing check-ins, and connecting with the students families. 

Take time to embrace the silence. It will tell you a lot about what your students need. When I did, it clicked with me that the students need patience and grace. Think about your assignments. Do they need more scaffolds and supports? If so, get creative on how you can add those for your students. Prioritize building relationships with the students. This helps in creating a safe space for your Language Learners. 

My next steps for you are simple. Reflect on your highlights for this school year. Also reflect on some struggles. How can you improve on those or adjust for this school year?

How are you adjusting to this school year?