As my students will tell you, I am big on reflection. Research in Teaching for Transfer, the concepts on which Writing for Transfer is built, suggests that in order for students to be able to apply the skills that they learn to other areas, reflection is key. Summer is a great time to reflect on the previous school year and what I want to keep and what I want to leave behind. Four big takeaways: Moving on is hard.
In my current position, I am blessed to teach the same students in sixth and seventh grade. Building a relationship over two years makes such a difference! At the end of this year, it was difficult to say goodbye to my departing seventh graders. Yes, in eighth grade they will still be in middle school and I will still see them--but they won’t be my students, learning with me in my classroom. At the same time, I know that they have learned and accomplished so much in the past two years--most of them had a bat or bar mitzvah. Most of them put in a lot of hard work, not just in English class, but in their other subjects, including their electives. The perspective they have gained, as well as the self-knowledge, is very admirable.
Maximize my time.
Organization is not my strongest skill, so this year I worked on using my time more efficiently.
I began using timers to make sure that I worked on different things, instead of getting caught up in one area or another. Depending on the amount of time I had, I would set timers in increments of twenty minutes. I also tried to set aside some time to work in a distraction-free area.
As a passionate person, it is not always easy to switch gears and extremely difficult to dive into tasks that are not my favorite. And yet they must be done. (See--setting goals is important for everyone!) I also have to be flexible about the goals that I set and realize that there are times when I will have to shift my focus.
Raise student voices.
Recently, I heard someone say of a young author, that they could not have experienced that much in twenty-five years and their life could not be enough to write about. I did not have much of a response at the time, but as often happens, it really stuck in my craw, because it goes against everything that I believe in as a writer and a teacher.
It is incredibly unfair and shortsighted to assume that someone in their twenties has not yet experienced life. Someone in their eighties will probably have experienced more, but that does not discount the young life. It is not as if life waits to begin until a certain age. The thoughts and experiences of young people have great value. If you think to discount them, it is a loss to you and our youth.
This year, I read about students preparing for basketball tryouts, preparing for bar and bat mitzvahs, and being afraid of going to the dentist. Perhaps in an adult purview, these things mean very little, but in truth, these are the things that shape our youths for their continuing journey.
Take preparing for a basketball tryout--realizing that you should be working out and learning months in advance in order to play better is not only very responsible, it shows that they are learning. In my school, a Jewish school, everyone has a bar or bat mitzvah, and so to many it may seem common. And yes, it is something that binds them together. But it is also a reminder that even these “common” experiences are felt deeply by the individuals.
Consider the student who wrote clearly of their terror of the dentist--it showed how much they had mastered figurative language, which we had spent a good deal of time focusing on the year before. That, and the ability to express themselves clearly and compellingly.
I would not and could not tell any of these students that their experiences weren’t valid or important. That the struggles they faced are not as significant as those of an adult’s or that what they have to say is not meaningful. Are they skilled enough to write a best selling memoir? They are probably not ready for that, but not for lack of thought or emotion.
To dismiss the voice of youth is to dismiss the vitality, creativity, and input that could not be provided by someone older, regardless of what they had accomplished.
Listen with more than your ears.
Okay, I just spent a lot of time discussing how important the voices of the young are, and I am not going to take that back. But I am going to say that the emotional maturity of adolescents is not perfect, and they cannot always voice what they are thinking and feeling. And so it is especially important to listen, not just with your ears, but your eyes, and yes, with your heart. (Yes, very cringe). If you can listen with your heart, instead of hearing the defensiveness, you will hear sensitivity and self-protection. In addition to anger, you may hear confusion. In teasing others, you may hear a need for challenge or a need for help. Most acting out is a mask for another need.
It was a good year. I learned a lot. My students learned a lot. Heading into summer, I am determined to do a lot of reading, learning, and writing. A big thank you to everyone who made this past school year possible--my family, the administration of the school, my colleagues, the parents who entrusted me with their precious children, and, of course, my students. Have a great summer, everyone!
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