Making the Most of Our Time Together: Navigating the Final Days of the School Year

According to a study conducted in 2015 by the Microsoft Corporation, humans have an attention span of eight seconds, roughly the time span of a goldfish. While researchers elaborate that the human mind has much more potential to focus on an idea or action for more than a few seconds, any educator at the end of a school year would undoubtedly argue to the contrary. Student engagement becomes an uphill battle as the calendar pages turn toward warmer months, but we still have work to do. I hear my students lament about "senioritis" and the desire to break free from their K-12 education. How do I maximize my time with them and guide them through our final learning experiences before they run from our halls for the final time?

Storytelling is a powerful way to captivate people.

"Good speakers are great storytellers" is a phrase I say to my students at least once a week. Stories build suspense, foster creativity, and encourage us to connect ideas and each other. Find a way to create anticipation for a lesson or a concept. This past week, we started our final unit - special occasion speaking.

I always begin the unit by sharing stories from weddings I have attended, highlighting the best and worst wedding toasts I have witnessed. Jokes about the thirty-minute best man toast that involved bathroom breaks and a hall full of hungry guests to uncomfortably sit through childhood stories of the groom and his brother remind them that our speaking skills can and will be put to the test in numerous ways throughout our lives. My stories help them to recognize the connection between content and their lives. We can all leverage our stories and experiences to captivate our students and help them understand the greater context of what we are learning together.

Keep students active.

The spring is full of distractions. Alternative schedules, field trips, and end-of-year experiences are at the forefront of students' minds. When students actively engage in the learning process, they are less likely to be consumed by distractions. Collaborative projects that promote creativity and creation can help students master skills while also having fun.

One of my favorite assignments is a nonverbal video project in which students tell a story that relates to high school students without using words. This week students asked if they could incorporate videos into their final special occasion speeches. We went down a rabbit hole of TikToks and Reels that represented their high school experiences and related to the themes of their final speeches. Instead of scolding them for embracing their distractions, I found a way to tie their videos into their speeches by looking for themes and discussing how these videos communicate their values and beliefs.

Utilize technology to amplify their voices.

Distractions can be opportunities to redirect. They can also become part of the curriculum that keeps students engaged and actively using their interests to demonstrate mastery. Having students make videos encourages them to share what they're learning on a larger scale. Using their platforms, they are more inclined to share the fun, which turns lessons into flashbulb memories that they will take with them beyond the classroom walls.

Be ready to change course.

I am *that* teacher who plans the entire semester before it begins. I am comforted by a road map that helps me prepare for heavy grading weekends and allows me to understand my units' interconnectedness. While having a plan is valuable, I acknowledge and am always ready to shift course. Some days are rough, and a lesson needs to be retooled. Certain groups of students move faster or slower depending on their skill sets and strengths. As teachers, having a vision for the journey we want our students to take in our classrooms helps us to adjust our strategies to meet the needs of our students. We must be ready to rethink, retool, and revise to meet those needs.

The final few weeks fly faster than we can blink. While our attention spans may be swimming away during the last few weeks, we can keep our students engaged by inviting our students to be active in the learning process and co-creating powerful stories and memories together.

References:

Stutsman, Lori. “You Have Eight Seconds. Differentiate Your Business through the Art of Storytelling.” You Have Eight Seconds: Differentiate Your Business Through the Art of Storytelling, Microsoft Corporation, 15 Nov. 2021, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/us-partner-blog/2021/11/15/you-have-eight-seconds-differentiate-your-business-through-the-art-of-storytelling/. 

Promoting Student Agency and Ownership of Learning

As the semester comes to a close, I have worked to focus my conversations with seniors about life beyond high school. This particular group of seniors had a normal freshman year before the pandemic, but the pandemic and ever-changing schedules and rules disrupted their formative years. They were remote learners and hybrid students who lost some extracurricular experiences. Despite past challenges, we talk about moving forward and being empowered to navigate any challenges they may face. We all experience obstacles; at any age, we must continue to learn and grow from our experiences.

On the first day of every semester, I have students complete a challenge. Everyone is asked to stand up and then tasked with touching the door. The caveat is that they can only walk three steps to the door. Inevitably, the room goes silent, and a few timid students inch toward the door who have a clear path to reach it. For them, it is easy. This task seems insurmountable for students sitting in the back, on crutches, or having other physical restrictions. I wait and then repeat that they only have three STEPS to reach the door. Suddenly, creativity sparks as students hop, roll, cartwheel, and even carry others toward the door. If a student has a physical restriction, I'll push out my chair on wheels to guide them to the door. This experience is simple but powerful. Sometimes our paths are clear, and other times, we have the cards stacked against us.

This experience is why cultivating student agency is so important. Students must be empowered with skills to help them navigate adulthood, understand accountability, and recognize the importance of following through with commitments. To help them survive the pandemic, we took much of the accountability they once had off their plates well-intentioned, but in doing so, we took away some of their agency. They no longer solved their own problems and navigated their commitments with adult intervention. They lost the opportunity to develop their sense of agency because we were so focused on surviving daily. We forgot to help students see the bigger picture.

Regardless, seniors are going off into the world. No matter the path, we must prepare them to navigate life beyond high school. They will be confronted with the great picture of their lives in just three weeks - ready or not.

So how do we use our time wisely to prepare our exiting seniors for the next exciting chapter? How do we revise and improve our practices for students taking the seats of those who just matriculated?

Accountability has to fall on their shoulders.

I remember during the pandemic pleading with "strong students" to turn in their work. The assignment due date no longer mattered; I would grade every assignment that came my way because I wanted to connect with my students. I wanted to give feedback and help them grow, which often meant accepting late work. Social-emotional struggles were real and impacted us all while we were remote. Today, we are no longer remote. Obstacles still exist, but we cannot let past experiences be an excuse.

We need to set hard deadlines and high expectations. Students will rise to the challenge we give them, and when they do not, we must stand firm in allowing natural consequences to impact them. I am an empath who feels the emotions of others deeply. With this personality trait, I tend to extend grace naturally, but I have learned these past few weeks that I can still extend and give grace while standing firm with my expectations. Students won't grow if I justify or allow excuses to be reasons for allowing students to fall short of the bar. 

Along with maintaining our standards and expectations, we must stop owning their problems.

I am guilty of internalizing others' problems. I am a mom who worries, and those instincts are triggered when I see my "big kids" struggling with time management, organization, and poor decisions. My worry does not help them grow. In conversations with students recently, I have been intentional with the pronouns I choose. Instead of using the inclusive "we," I have reframed my questions to be about the student and the choices the student is making. Some of my common questions recently have been:

• How does this situation make you feel?
• How do the consequences of your actions impact you moving forward?
• How are you going to plan your schedule so that you can complete x, y, and z?
• And my favorite: What do your choices communicate to others about you?

Being able to look at a situation from an outside perspective is helpful. Asking students to identify their feelings and then objectively look at a situation often helps them take ownership. This practice also helps them recognize what their actions imply. Do they want to be the person their actions are saying they are? How do they reclaim their agency and move forward in both positive and negative situations?

 
We need to continue to talk about career pathways and redefine lifelong learning.

We are all always learning. Learning can be academic, but it is often more holistic than that. Through our experiences, we learn to build better relationships, gain job-related skills, and solve problems. All of us fail, and those failures are powerful lessons -- sometimes difficult ones.

We have to teach our students that life will teach us all important lessons, and if we learn to listen, reflect, and question in those situations, we can and will continue to grow. The school of life never stops. As a 12th-grade teacher, I must infuse those executive-functioning skills into daily conversations with students. I want to provide my students with the ability to think critically and recognize how to use their agency to move forward and make positive changes in their lives when faced with challenges. They will learn those skills at some point. I plan to take a step back, allow them to fail in small ways, and then partner with them to move forward with stronger life skills that enable them to soar outside the high school walls.


References

Ferlazzo, L. (2019, October 19). Student agency is ownership. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-student-agency-is-ownership/2019/10

McKibben, S. (2022, November 1). Anindya Kundu on the difference between grit and agency (and why it matters). ASCD, 80(3). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/anindya-kundu-on-the-difference-between-grit-and-agency-and-why-it-matters

Zakrezewski, V. (2014, March 20). What's wrong with grit? Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/whats_wrong_with_grit

From Exhaustion to Empowerment: A Call for Teacher Self-Care

Teacher burnout is real. From chronic student absenteeism to a lack of understanding of deadlines, I am hearing an overwhelming number of teachers locally and from my personal learning network express experiencing hardships and struggles in the school setting that have snuffed out the joy of teaching and learning. Exasperated by the end-of-the-year fatigue, state testing, and the longing for summer weather, teachers are worn out.

I get it.  

We talk about student SEL, but we often forget about teacher SEL. As an instructional coach, I often focus on bringing energy and positivity to teachers. Positive connections can help fuel even the most challenging days, whether formally collaborating or informally chatting in the hall. 

How do we continue to identify ways to engage in self-care and restorative choices that improve our day-to-day experiences and help us be better teachers for our students as they transition from one grade to the next, or in my case, from high school to college? 

First, we must create a culture of trust and openness. 

When a school is a safe place, our students are more successful. They are more engaged. As teachers, we must feel safe and allowed to be ourselves. When the professional environment is not open and supportive, teachers will stop taking risks, trying new strategies, and most importantly, they will stop collaborating and sharing great ideas. We need to trust that we can be authentic. 

One way to create that culture of trust is for administrators to provide leadership opportunities to their teachers. Often, teachers feel like their voices do not matter, and even if they have input on decisions being made, their input is dismissed or undervalued. A disconnect happens, and the reasoning behind decisions is often left out, which creates mistrust. Transparency matters, and taking the time to explain the why can make difficult decisions clear. 

Celebrating success is crucial and can shift the culture. 

This year, my focus has been finding ways to celebrate my colleagues. People need to be uplifted. During COVID and in this post-pandemic phase of life, strong teachers feel frustrated. "Normal" teaching practices and strategies are not working as they used to, and obstacles are seemingly popping up frequently. To combat the heaviness that many are still feeling, I believe in finding ways to celebrate the wins, honor leadership, and empower others to share their incredible ideas that often happen behind the closed doors of a classroom. This year, I have facilitated a sit-and-snack series that teachers throughout the building lead. 

The skills they share highlight strategies related to blended and personalized learning that any teacher can use in their classrooms, often immediately. I have also had the joy of starting a podcast called the "Teach in Ten" podcast with my friend and colleague, Cori Schwarzrock, which is focused on amplifying the stories of amazing teachers in our district. In both experiences, those teachers are uplifted and realize how valuable they are to our school community and our students. Teachers need to be empowered to share their strengths and recognize the value they bring to the school culture. The more plugged into their strengths, the more likely they will continue growing and engaging in the community. 

We need to reach out, offer support, and foster positive relationships.

I will be eternally grateful for the colleagues who have helped me navigate my 20s, encouraged me to find work-life harmony in the early stages of parenthood, and are the reasons I survived the pandemic. They are my lifelines and extended family who have brought me so much joy even in challenging moments of the last decade. We must lean into those relationships and find the people who help us grow, who are safe spaces when we need to vent, and who celebrate our success. 

We also need to remember to be those people for others. It's easy when we are feeling burnout to become isolated or to produce negative energy. When I am feeling low, I love to revisit the Marigold analogy - remembering that I need to find people who encourage me to grow, encourage me, and support me. Positive self-talk and conversations can help us to reframe our experiences and find the good in difficult circumstances. This positive outlook should not cross into toxic positivity. I genuinely believe saying, "This simply sucks," is acceptable. Acknowledge the difficulties, but do not become complacent in those hardships. Sometimes life is just hard, but our Marigolds - our PLN - can help us find the sun again. 

Beyond our experiences and immediate community, we also must seek resources and professional development beyond what we can create on our own. 

I am reading and learning all I can on teacher-SEL. I am fortunate to have a partner at home who is skilled in finding work-life harmony. My husband has also gotten into the Glennon Doyle podcast and other SEL-themed podcasts, which has given me a person with whom to dialogue about finding that balance, even in my busy seasons at school. However, teacher-SEL cannot fall on the teachers. This practice cannot be another trend that an administrator adds to the end of a slideshow at the beginning of the year. Practicing self-care is easy to say and add to an agenda item, but it needs to be authentic, and support must be given. Whether that involves attending conferences, joining professional learning networks, or engaging in other communities, we need to find something to engage in self-care genuinely. With decision fatigue, we also need help and support to find these outlets.

Overall, we need to allow ourselves to reflect and understand that we are in the business of people. Our jobs are emotional and draining. We must find healthy ways to release the pressures of our days and fuel our decision-fatigued minds. We need to talk to our colleagues and loved ones, engage in self-care, and shut down our devices more often than we do. 

Teacher burnout is a significant issue that impacts both teachers and students. When we create a culture of trust, take care of our physical and mental health, and acknowledge the emotional intensiveness of our jobs, we can work towards reducing burnout and creating a more positive learning environment for all stakeholders. As educators, we must prioritize our well-being to continue to inspire and support our students to be productive and positive members of our communities at school and beyond. 

Welcome to Quarter Four

Six weeks. That's all that I have left with my seniors. Time is fleeting, and our final days together will be filled with final speeches, prom, and memories they will carry into their post-secondary pursuits. The word of the year has been full - full of activity, full of growth, and full of joy. While I still see students acclimating to the new normal in this endemic phase of COVID, our community seems relatively back to pre-COVID practices. The year feels normal - classrooms are noisy, and students are engaging in typical high school activities in and out of the classroom. 

These students are still trying to find balance, executive functioning skills, and adhere to deadlines so lax in uncertain lockdowns and more restrictive times. How do we make the best use of our final few weeks together? What skills must they refine before crossing the football field during graduation? Most importantly, how do I empower them to be literate and effective communicators in any endeavor they pursue? 

The fourth quarter is a sprint, so let's start running toward those final goals. 

This spring break, I took time to reexamine my learning targets and goals for the final two units of the semester. Using backward planning, I mapped out the time needed to complete their last two assessments and incorporated time to practice to reach mastery. Backward planning is so essential, especially as time is limited. While the day-to-day plan may shift and be revised, the overarching direction of the remainder of the course is needed. With a plan, we will maximize our time together. Plans also allow us to focus, evaluate, and shift approaches as necessary to help students reach the finish line with strength. 

Still, there is always time to foster relationships and encourage students to value their connections with their peers, teachers, and school. 

Building relationships is one of our most significant investments. While a silly bellringer sometimes feels off track, these moments to bond, collaborate, and share yield some of the most substantial results. When students feel connected to their teachers, peers, and the school environment, they are more successful academically and far more likely to retain what they have learned. 

The adage that people won't remember what we said but will remember how we made them feel applies here. My students probably won't remember the exact terminology for Monroe's Motivated Sequence. Still, their connectedness to the course and our time together will give them the confidence to logically and effectively apply persuasive appeals. I hope they can use their voices clearly, concisely, and confidently. I also hope they will remember that most communication is listening and adapting to their audiences. Our relationships matter, and as teachers, we can model the power of relationships in our daily lives with our students. No matter what comes next for them, this interpersonal skill will open doors and make their lives richer every day. 

The weather is somewhat unpredictable in the spring in the Chicagoland area, so wear layers -- and plan for the unexpected to occur both in and out of the classroom. 

A lesson I share with students on the first and last day of my class is that it's essential to live in the present but plan for the future. We should never wish away time. While we all could look ahead and say, "I can't wait until summer," or "Life will be so much better when ____ part of my life is done." Wishing away time, however, prevents us from appreciating every moment and every phase of life. My seniors often get overwhelmed by wishing away their senior year, but it is important to enjoy the present. Still, planning ahead, applying for scholarships, and taking advantage of opportunities such as internships, career shadowing, and extracurricular experiences can help students develop skills leading to further post-secondary possibilities. 

Finally, let's listen to those around us and appreciate the beauty of spring -- and each person. 

In the rush of the final quarter, it is easy to keep moving without valuing the people and moments around us. We can all learn so much from each person we encounter. My students this semester are particularly goofy. They bring larger-than-life energy to the classroom every period. They are in an exciting phase of their lives as they make significant decisions about their futures and share their hopes for what is to come. 

Our stories are woven together, if even for a moment. May we see the best in each other and blend our current paths to leave a beautiful legacy behind us. The best way to empower others is to help them see the best in themselves, realize what they are capable of, and show how much their stories matter. The next chapter is an exciting one, but it's still unwritten. I hope my students take the skills they gained in high school to make that chapter joyful.