Teachers, This is Our Moment!

Mindset Matters: Embracing the role of Teacher for Fall 2020

Well teachers, we made it! As most of us are finishing up what is absolutely the strangest end to a school year EVER, I am finally taking a moment to sit still, to breathe, and to wonder if I made a big enough difference in the lives of my students over the course of the year.

As teachers, we are now looking back at a chapter in our careers that we never could have imagined existed, and something we certainly weren’t ever trained for. A chapter full of fear and the unknown, with challenges unforeseen and opportunities not yet realized.

On the positive, there were many cases of teachers finally being praised — instead of criticized; noticed for the many hats we wear — instead of for our shortcomings; and reminded by our administrators to take care of ourselves first, so we could be our best when connecting with our students and families.

So, take this moment to congratulate yourself for surviving through this wild ride and take some time for self care as you transition into your well-deserved summer sanity break!

Now, if you’re anything like me, the reality is that you’re probably already worrying about the upcoming school year. Just as I’m closing the door on this crazy year, and trying to relax and rejuvenate for a moment, the guidance from the Oregon Department of Education was released. The information about the requirements for reopening schools in the fall of 2020 is here, and the worry, stress and fear of actually going back into the classroom with kids has taken over my brain. Most states and districts are now trying to figure out the logistics of getting kids back into schools safely after the emergency closures of Spring 2020 due to COVID-19, although vaccines or treatments have yet to be developed or made available.

Not unexpected, but still disheartening to hear, that as teachers, in addition to providing meaningful learning opportunities, we will now be tasked with keeping kids six feet apart, wearing and monitoring the use of face masks, and maintaining student hygiene while watching for symptoms of the virus.

And we thought working from home was hard!

The fact is it’s going to get worse before it gets better. With that in mind, it’s easy to freak out, and it’s understandable that teachers like me are full of anxiety and stress over what the new reality will be like. I’m wondering how in the world we are going to manage this. I’m honestly not sure!

On top of the logistical nightmare, we’re being told there are likely impending budget cuts just as unexpected costs rise. Our already underserved families are now struggling even more and many are falling farther into poverty and falling behind in their social, emotional, and academic readiness. Kids who live with trauma have now been through (and may still be experiencing) more trauma as a result of the pandemic.

Even many teachers themselves are facing uncertainty. Whether it’s financial strain, compromised health, caring for loved ones, or dealing with forms of oppression, teachers are not immune. Riding an emotional rollercoaster is an absolute understatement and it’s definitely easy to get caught up in the gloom and doom.

So teachers, how will we get through it? How do we lead with courage? How do we stay optimistic?

“Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought it would be like and learn to find the joy in the story you are actually living.” ~Rachel Marie Martin

In the midst of quarantine and remote teaching and learning from home this past Spring, I came across this quote, and it helped me through the transition from classroom to remote teaching during a crisis. There were many lost experiences to mourn and many cancelled opportunities, but a change in mindset made the difference — and this could be the key to not only managing, but flourishing, as we transition back into the school buildings.

Schooling as we knew it pre-COVID no longer exists.

For me, Friday the 13th of March 2020 marks the end of an era in my teaching career. We are never going back to that. As much as I am longing for a return to normalcy, there are plenty of policies, routines, habits, mindsets and thoughts that were “normal” prior to me leaving my classroom that day that I do NOT want to replicate moving forward. There are also specific things that I won’t give up.

That gives me a glimmer of hope.

At first glance, the guidelines outlined in the Oregon Department of Education guidance for the 2020–2021 school year seem impossible and completely non-conducive to learning. The priorities outline measures that include:

• screening everyone for symptoms upon entering buildings,
• one-way traffic through halls and doors (nevermind that adults in my neighborhood can’t even maintain this kind of order in the grocery store),
• staggering schedules,
• cohorts of kids attending on alternate days while continuing distance learning on off days,
• keeping kids 6 feet apart while together (another task I’ve yet to see many adults mastering),
• calculating room occupancy on 35 square feet per person,
• utilizing face coverings and even separation by plexiglass partitions.

Hearing these requirements raises my level of anxiety exponentially as I try to imagine how any of this can really work and what it will actually look like in practice rather than on paper.

It’s a logistical nightmare, an insane logic puzzle, a challenge for the ages.

But, when I read a little closer with the idea in mind of letting go of the past ways and finding joy in the life being lived, certain words came into focus regarding the state’s outlined priorities. The things that are now being prioritized at the state level during this uncertain time are actually in perfect alignment with my philosophy of education.

They are the things that I’ve been striving for and working towards with my students year after year, despite everything else piled on our plates in service of the state and district administrators who are charged with improving test scores and attendance data.

These are the things that make organizations like Classroom Champions true game changers for the kids we serve by providing programming that prioritizes those things that teachers have always known matter the most. Learning to adapt, persevere, treat others with respect, and work together in support of one other and the betterment of our communities as we all learn and grow into the best version of ourselves, are all things we stand to gain from prioritizing people over things.

The Oregon guidelines are prioritizing:

• Flexibility
• Safety and Wellness
• Connection and Relationships
• Equity
• Innovation

These priorities make my teacher heart happy!

Sure, the state is looking at this through the lens of the COVID-19 virus and keeping it at bay, but that doesn’t mean teachers have to limit themselves to that thinking.

My teacher thoughts sound like this:

What if we were ALL given more flexibility for when, how and what we teach and learn?

What if the safety of ALL were prioritized by taking strides to de-stigmatize mental health and create safe spaces for fostering our physical and mental well-being?

What if connections and building relationships become the central change agent for progress, both academically and socially?

What if ALL people were seen as equally important and given equitable opportunities at a high quality of life?

All of those things will be possible when we are allowed to innovate, collaborate, and think more creatively than ever before to make necessary and lasting changes to the systems that regulate our lives.

When I think about why I became a teacher in the first place, it was about wanting to make a difference in the lives of young people, to give them a voice and a chance at a better life, and for them to know that they matter.

That is what I signed up for!

I signed up to be the one who can help students through struggles so that they can come out on the other side more prepared to take on life. Did I ever imagine that would look like remote teaching in a crisis or social distancing while teaching in a classroom? No, definitely not. But, I don’t have control over the requirements that are set out for us. I only have control over how I respond to the challenge.

If I choose to look at the state level guidance only as roadblocks, I will definitely be stopped in my tracks.

But, if I respond to these challenges as opportunities to eventually help revolutionize school, I can see it differently. I can start to treat the obstacles such as social distancing and wearing masks as just pesky side-effects of the “treatment” that will result in true and lasting change.

Those stifling discomforts will eventually subside, and if we can just deal with them for the short-term while staying laser focused on wellness, connection, innovation and equity, we will end up with a better schooling system in the long run.

A system in which ALL individuals are valued and given the opportunity to grow into who they were meant to be as an integral part of a flourishing community. Isn’t that the pinnacle of education? Isn’t that what we teachers signed up for?

Yes, these are truly unprecedented times which call for unprecedented changes — a revolution if you will — and what an opportunity teachers have been given to make our mark, to have our moment to shape a generation with compassion, equitable opportunity, and creativity, communication, and critical-thinking skills that will have a positive and lasting global impact.

So, take your moment to celebrate what has been and to let go of what is gone. Take your moment to reflect, renew, and reset. Then get ready to live in the moment in which we will be the change. We’ve got this!

Teachers, the future is now … let’s make it happen!

Consider reading Ashley’s most recent article, What matters the most is you.

Ashley Anderson is a third grade teacher who is active in the Classroom Champions community as a Teacher Ambassador. She is very excited that the Classroom Champions SEL Foundations Curriculum has developed an entire unit on Emotions, which helps students (& teachers) acknowledge, validate, understand and manage their emotions so that they can be successful in school and in life!