Coping with the Changes: Fostering Resilience in and Out of the Classroom

Today, I learned that Jordan may be the oldest child in the United States on Trikafta in granular form, the miracle drug that will improve the quality and longevity of life for people with cystic fibrosis. At the age of six (88 days), he will begin taking Trikafta in pill format.

Currently, Jordan takes this medicine twice daily. We've been dissolving the crystals in water and Gatorade and also learned that he can take them in yogurt instead of drinking a salty-tasting liquid. He's a trooper and continues to show his resilience. He never complains about the medication, treatments, or doctor visits. While his health is still closely monitored (especially for bowel obstructions), there is hope that this school year will be relatively normal for him.

Observing Jordan's strength as a parent inspires me as I navigate challenges and life changes. We cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can control how we respond to these situations. Jordan is rarely phased by treatments, medicine, and being poked and prodded by doctors. How do we handle challenges and life changes like Jordan? How can we help foster resilience in our students?

Take stressful situations and times day by day.

Life is full of surprises, and unfortunately, not all surprises are positive. We will all face adversity that stretches our mindset and choices. My son is and appears to be an incredibly healthy child. The quality of his health can go from perfectly healthy to a potential hospital visit instantly. His bowel obstruction seems unexpected and can derail any plan our family follows at a given time. Because his health might become a concern without much warning, I have learned that I cannot worry about stressors that might come. I have to live in the moment, taking each day as it comes.

As an educator, I like many teachers, am a planner. I realize, however, that we cannot plan every moment of the entire school year at once. Should we still have overarching goals and long-term plans in place? Absolutely. But in difficult times, having short-term goals makes a negative experience feel more like a drizzle than a downpour.

Short-term goals allow us to feel the success of accomplishing a task or overcoming a small hurdle. The positive feelings from achieving a small goal begets future, long-term success. Teaching our students to create short-term SMART goals can also empower them to navigate their challenges and obstacles.

Be okay with being uncomfortable.

We can do anything for a short time. Embracing short-term discomfort can be informative and lead to unexpected lessons learned. As a parent and educator, my instinct is to clear the path and reduce the obstacles that my children and students face. Still, by doing that, I am robbing them of the learning opportunities that come from failure. When we accept discomfort and live in that space, we also become more confident. We start to identify our values and priorities and shift our thinking toward growth.

When we help students accept their discomfort, we allow them to stretch themselves, innovate, and reflect. If they feel safe to fail, they are more likely to grow. Creating an environment where failure is okay comes from frequent reflection and class conversation about what it means to be successful learners. These conversations must be ongoing as we constantly cycle through the learning process together.

Describe your feelings and model vulnerability for others.

Living in discomfort comes with many emotions that are likely to shift. Describing those feelings and putting words to how we are processing challenges fosters critical thinking. It also creates a space in which students feel safe to share their feelings. We cannot learn in silos, and working in isolation often wastes time and resources. As educators, we need to be able to talk through what we are experiencing and also problem-solve with other educators. No one is perfect, and even the best teachers have tough days. When we are open to discussing circumstances and working collaboratively with others, we can leverage our vulnerability to grow together.

We have to be intentional with helping students put their discomfort to words, too. Making it seem like we have life perfectly mapped out ourselves creates unrealistic expectations and exacerbates their insecurities if they aren't living up to a specific standard. When we show our vulnerabilities, students are more likely to self-disclose what they think, feel, and learn. This mutual sharing of feelings and ideas only leads to a stronger learning community.

Read, research, and reach out.

As stated in the book, Recipes for Resilience: Nurturing Perseverance in Students and Educators, "Learning is for everyone. Make a commitment to yourself to expand your knowledge and expertise, and in turn, your environment will flourish" (Robert Martinez). We are always learning about ourselves, our relationships, and our practices. To better serve students, we must be active learners ourselves.

I am working on being okay with not having all the answers and moving slower and with more intentionality. I am learning that to serve others, I cannot just give them all the answers; I have to empower them to discover more about themselves and their professional practice. We do not know what tomorrow brings, but when we embrace the learning journey, we are better prepared to face and learn from it. True success does not come from knowing all the correct answers ourselves; it comes from helping others to find their version of success.

 

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Rethinking Success: Shifting the Focus from Achievements to Personal Growth and Development (Part 2)

"Why would you want to be an English teacher?" This was an actual question I was asked when I was in high school. Be anything else BUT an English teacher was the message I received. The concern was that English is a popular subject, and I would need help finding a job. Note: Never let someone convince you not to pursue your dreams and passions.

Why English? I come from a family of math and science teachers, and I am the only humanities teacher. My love for literacy derives from my desire to connect and empathize with others. In the early oughts (2000s), the STEM push consumed the conversation around education. While I love and value STEM, my passion has always been empowering all learners to share their stories, create innovative ideas or projects, and collaborate with others. These soft skills, often considered secondary to other disciplines, are the foundation of academic, professional, and personal success. Regardless of the discipline we teach or pursue, how can we help our students find success?

Students must be encouraged to set goals for personal growth.

Both organizations and individuals write SMART goals in the business world (and in education). However, a Harvard Business Study found that of the top MBA students from their program, only 3% had written down their goals. Of course, the study going that the percentage of individuals who had written down their goals earned 10x more money than the 97% combined.

While money does not buy happiness, having a clear direction and purpose can lead to a more fulfilling life. Teaching our students to write goals down physically is crucial. Where we might miss the boat as educators, however, is that we need to teach students to write smaller, more tangible goals. We want our students to dream big and reach for grandiose ideas. When a goal is set too far in the future, it becomes too much of a reach, and the drive to achieve that goal can fizzle.

I love the image above. Shorter goals and small steps toward a grander goal yield better results. We must show our students how to manage, set, and reset their goals so that they feel the energy to accomplish a task. That seemingly micro feeling of success will yield even more success moving forward.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear reminds us that "Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement." If we teach students to become just a little better each day, before they know it, they will feel transformed in their skill sets and will want to continue to grow.

We must foster a culture that maintains a positive mindset.

To succeed, we must also fail. Feeling like a failure can produce frustration and tension. Students look to us to see how we react to our failures. If we become overwhelmed when technology doesn’t work, for example, we demonstrate that it is acceptable to become angry if something doesn't go our way. Of course, we all have moments of anger and frustration, but as educators, we must be aware that our students are always watching (just like our children). They will react to setbacks in the same way that we do. The "do as I say, not as I do" mentality is a generation or two ago. If we want our students to have a positive mindset, we must start by evaluating our own.

How can we foster a positive mindset in our classroom?

1. Celebrate positive behaviors. Identifying what our students are doing and how those actions are positive can help students to recognize what behaviors will lead to successful outcomes.
2. Embrace struggles and problem-solve together. Discussing how to problem-solve provides students with a framework to refocus and reset after a failure. It is important to learn, reflect, and grow.
3. Identify the lessons learned. Talk through what was gained in a situation and use experiences to move forward.
4. Show gratitude for the people and experiences that have helped us become who we are today and who will continue to support us moving forward.
5. Focus on the word yet. When unpacking a situation, the word yet allows us all to understand that if something doesn't go our way, it means we are still learning and growing. Even though our desired outcome hasn't happened yet, it is still possible, and we can still see the positives in any situation.

I love Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote, "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." I often remind my students and myself that even though not every day is exciting or life-changing, every day provides us with an opportunity to learn, grow, and build relationships with others. When we learn to appreciate and embrace those initial steps joyfully, we become stronger and find meaning in everyday experiences.

Preparation is key.

We must prepare our students for the challenges they will inevitably encounter by helping them take a realistic look at the circumstances while finding the nuggets of hope in the face of adversity. We must prepare our students to hear no, receive a rejection, and handle criticism gracefully. They will face rejection in many ways; we all do. What they choose to do in those moments will determine their success. Failure is a gift, but one needs to learn how to handle the package to reap the rewards of the lessons that this gift can teach.

Part of success is recognizing and understanding how to move forward from loss and rejection. Success is about navigating the obstacles and rethinking, recreating, or redirecting our path. I want to continue to empower my students to find meaning in their lives and experiences, accomplish their goals, and, most importantly, experience the joy of living a life that brings them meaning and purpose.

Someone told me boldly that I'd never find joy as an English teacher. While they may have been well-intentioned, I did not allow them to stop me from pursuing my dream. I understood that I might hear no. I recognized that I might not succeed on the first try, and that belief strengthened me.

NOTE: I was hired very early in the job hunt (before spring break), within 24 hours of my interview. My first principal told me not to interview at a neighboring school in the same district, which I was set to do the next day. Post spring break, I received calls for interviews from over a dozen different school districts. I was definitely going to find a job.

Again, don't ever let anyone discourage you from reaching your goals. While the vision of success in my life has shifted over the years, and that definition might shift for others, we can help our students see the steps they need to take to reach their goals. We can empower our students by helping them to shape their understanding of success and take those first steps.

References:

Acton, Annabel. “How to Set Goals (and Why You Should Write Them Down).” Forbes, 3 Nov. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/annabelacton/2017/11/03/how-to-set-goals-and-why-you-should-do-it/?sh=104307bd162d.

Clear, James. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Cornerstone Press, 2022.

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. 

Where SEL Meets Academic Learning

Nothing says happy spring break like a blanket of snow covering the yard. Classic Chicago weather. Still, the snow is beautiful and peaceful looking. As the school year starts to wind down, I am reminded to appreciate the time we are given and the students who will soon be crossing the football field at graduation. Time is our most precious commodity, and it's fleeting like the snow that will soon be melted. What my students will remember from their high school years are the relationships they built along the way. We are collectively rebuilding from COVID and the impact of shifting learning environments. Helping students develop skills to build positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and manage their emotions is essential to the educational experience and significantly impacts academic learning.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) must be a regular part of our teaching practices as it helps improve academic achievement, prepare students for post-secondary endeavors, and increase student resilience. According to CASEL, SEL helps students acquire knowledge, develop healthy identities, achieve goals, and build relationships. The CASEL framework is an evidence-based guideline that helps students cultivate skills and thrive academically and personally.

On the last day before spring break, I tore up the lesson plan and had students complete an impromptu speaking challenge. They were broken into two groups and took turns going head-to-head against a peer as they created one-minute speeches with only two minutes of preparation time. Before they spoke, their teammates gave them ideas for their speeches. With laughter and peer encouragement, my students spoke confidently and had fun applying skills we have worked on all semester in a low-stakes, informal setting. This experience reminded me of the importance of building SEL skills in students. Skill acquisition does not occur overnight.

Getting students to this point takes regular practice and cooperative learning practices, communication skills, and self-awareness. How do we create spaces where students feel safe and confident to showcase their learning? How do we infuse SEL into learning?

Set clear expectations and establish learning goals.

The best way to support student learning is to clearly define the goals and the purpose of the learning activities in the classroom. I start every day with learning targets, and most recently, I have worked to make sure the language I use with students is student-friendly. These targets are not just goals taken from state standards but practical goals phrased to help students understand the why. When students see the why behind a learning activity, it becomes more relevant to the classroom and their lives beyond the classroom.

For example, yesterday's goal was: I can write and deliver an impromptu speech, practicing my ability to deliver a clear message to an audience in a professional setting. Students will think on their feet in professional settings often, and having this skill will make those communicative situations more effective and easier to produce.

Provide students with opportunities to collaborate.

Collaboration is one of the most sought-after skills by employers. It is also a skill that we all use with family and friends. Our society relies on the ability to work together. Giving students opportunities to work with diverse groups of people reflects real-world experiences. Group projects and activities that require collaboration also teach students to develop empathy and an understanding of others. Collaboration can be informal and short, and this skill can be formalized over an extended period. Frequent and diverse collaboration opportunities can encourage students to be ready to participate in society in many situations and foster stronger relationships.

Encourage and model active listening and effective communication.

Along with collaboration, SEL-infused learning helps students to develop listening skills. Often, students think they are good listeners because most can hear. Hearing and listening are vastly different skills. We all have internal barriers to listening in various settings, whether from subconscious biases or minor distractions like phone notifications or the desire to speak. In my speech class, I model listening and provide formal opportunities to practice, which involve putting down the electronics and communicating with others. These small practices at the beginning of class or even in the middle of a lesson give students sentence starters to have authentic conversations and apply these skills in and out of the classroom.

Create a positive classroom culture and foster a sense of community.

Frequent collaboration and the use of active listening both lead to a positive learning environment. Students know that they will be seen and heard in the classroom. What I love about teaching speech is that students have practiced building and maintaining positive relationships. They engage in self-disclosure and see the value in others - even those who may not be friends with them outside of the classroom. I love watching the teams of students cheer each other on and help the speakers generate ideas. The classroom is a safe space. Even though not everyone could produce a perfect impromptu speech, every student participated without hesitation. They knew they were safe to make mistakes, embrace failure, and learn from the experience. I hope they take these skills and use them to make every environment they find themselves in more positive places to be.

Offer students opportunities to reflect on their learning and emotions.

A good classroom environment not only promotes collaboration and community; it also encourages self-reflection. Students should be asked to monitor their learning and growth. This skill needs to be intentionally developed. Whether at the end of a unit, after a summative, or at the end of a grading period, purposeful reflection can help students identify their strengths and areas for growth. I use an SEL survey with students regularly to encourage them to evaluate their student skills, share their strengths with me, and also give me feedback on how I can best support them. This dialogue fosters trust and strong relationships. It also encourages students to take ownership of their learning.

We have the opportunity to create positive and supportive learning environments for students, but they must be intentionally integrated. SEL is not simply asking students how they are feeling or saying hello at the beginning of class, although those are places to start. Like the beautiful snow covering the ground this spring break, SEL strategies should be infused into all we do. As we continue to navigate the challenges of the post-COVID world, SEL will become increasingly important for supporting students' mental health and well-being. Let's prioritize SEL in our classrooms and help students develop the skills they need to succeed in all aspects of life.

Works Cited

CASEL. “Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).” CASEL: Advancing Social and Emotional Learning, CASE:, 2023, https://casel.org/. Accessed 25 March 2023.