What we really need is...

Allrighty! Now that I have your attention...! 😊

I wonder how many of you would have filled in the blank with the word COFFEE! Well, that's not on the menu today. I do have something else, though.

If I asked you to make a list of things you need throughout the day to do your best work...what would you include? What are the days where I don't have this or I left that thing at home by accident like? Would you function well enough to do your best work without all your stuff?

Now, think about what that list might look like for our students.

We ask the young people in our care to engage with us, one another, and new learning on a schedule they don't get to choose. We don't know how much or how little of what they need to function is in place or has gone unmet. And, most importantly, their brains aren't mature enough to adapt to and roll with that level of novelty. Without being able to use their go-to technology for self-regulation. This truly is a different time. Our students are more and more able to choose the online content they engage with for shorter and shorter chunks of time, at progressively younger ages. Those teachers among us who are the best at setting and establishing norms and routines would still have students who struggle.

What can we do to help?

I'm getting better at tuning in to what low-tech strategies students are using and doing on their own to self-regulate. I try to allow them to use fidgets, books, note pads, stuffed toys, etc. that they've learned help them to focus and concentrate (although an earlier version of me would have thought that the opposite was true). I'm also offering more frequent breaks. All of which are designed to maximize time spent in the classroom available for learning. If they don't have anything from their "list", it might cause them to completely check out of a lesson, and/or spend time outside of class due to disciplinary action.

I'm choosing this approach more and more often. I honestly prefer a little more noise over battles that can easily degenerate into power struggles that stop my lessons. It has the added benefit of helping me teach empathy, because it lets students to see that we each need different things in order to do our best learning.

Have a great week, and

Happy Snacking!

Chef Charles

www.teacherssnacks.com