I called February a lot of names.
We are tired in February, and we don’t have margin to manage struggling students, challenging relationships, and extenuating circumstances when we are thin.
And now we are in March Madness, where midterms and spring breaks in higher education overlap with logistics for Fall placements (why can’t we just live in the semester we are in!?).
In February, we lost our cool, our sense of humor, maybe even bits of our sanity. In March, our filters are nonexistent, we tend to wander from our purpose in the stack of papers and to-dos. I probably greeted several March mornings already with an eye roll. “You again?! Pu-lease.”
So last week, I took time to refocus on the ultimate teaching purpose: our students. I asked students in my graduate seminar to splash the whiteboard with reflections on their learner: What do you Know about your students? What do you still Wonder? What do you Wish for your students?
Here are reminders they generated that reset my mindset:
Know.
Some days they just need to be kids.
If you remain excited and positive, they will follow you anywhere.
Students are interested in you.
They are a lot more savvy about the world than you think.
Humor goes a long way.
Wonder.
How it feels to go to school today.
How hard to push them.
If they feel safe.
Where do all the pencils go?
How will I reach more of them?
Wish.
I wish they know how happy I am when they ask for help.
I wish my students were brave enough to ask for help.
I wish they would become critical thinkers.
I wish they would find peace and fulfillment.
After time with preservice teachers, I’m challenged to call the rest of this season by a new (nicer) name. It’s important to be my authentic self: the one who rants and complains and can’t find her way. But then it’s necessary to set the stress aside and recapture the hope of learning and the potential in this season.
