I have not been with my students for almost a week due to the holiday and snow day. What does that mean? Either my students are going to be sleepy zombies or off of the wall crazy.
Breaks in learning for my learners have always posed a challenge. I am not sure if non-teachers realize the impact of transitions into and out of breaks. It is not easy...
Students are out of practice for the school schedule including wake up and sleep times.
Students are out of practice with regards to focus.
Students are out of practice with the use of their minds and critical thought.
Students are needing the momentum of rigorous learning back.
Students are eager to whine about the amount of work we are putting on them.
In this case, as there are four weeks until the next break...which is a two week break with three weekends- Students are already looking ahead to the break and less willing to take advantage of this time to tackle continuous good learning.
So, what does this mean?
It means that I will have to be extra alert. I will have to be positive and engaging. I will have to motivate with energy as I express the value of this time that we have together. Some teachers tend to hold grades over students' heads as these four weeks end in finals and final grades for the semester. I do not believe that this motivates students. In fact, I believe that this overwhelms students causing them to shut down and take on a defeatist mindset. I will not do this to my students.
We must be real and realistic about the situation. It is what it is. We are in this together and regardless of obstacles, we must make the best of this time. I will cheerlead my students into momentum as we finish 2018 in a positive and successful manner.
Be Mindful.
Peace.
Mark Levine
#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites
No comments:
Post a Comment