So hype that this is my 5th year in education! I just finished my first week of school and as other educators like me have proclaimed, “ I am tired child.” It’s the south and of course it is 100 degrees outside and we decided to do yoga on a roof and a whole city scavenger hunt on MARTA trains with our students. So yes, I am beat. But over the past few weeks, as I have had the privilege and honor, to lean in to curating intentional community-building experiences for students in week one, I was reminded that this luxury is not afforded to all. Some schools, parents and communities are still fighting over who will wear masks or even creating separate campuses for students to opt out of wearing a mask. Crazy, how we have dress codes that people don't mind following but a mask is death. We have been so focused on WHAT we wear for students to gather, but has there been equal intention and energy exerted on HOW we will gather in ways that rebuilds and restores our communities and students. This time last year, I started school in a little Zoom black box so I know I want this school year to feel different and be different than what we had last year. This pandemic has truly stolen so much from our kids, how are we creating space to rebuild, not just academically what we have lost, but emotionally and in our community. At my school, this was our singular focus, rebuilding and creating space for our students to reconnect with each other and build community. We knew we would get to the regular work stuff, but if we did not lean in to creating a connection within our community, we could be dealing with a whole lot of other issues later on. So we,
What happened after that?
Overall, the point I am making is that while we were intentional about how we gathered and created natural space for students to reconnect within our community, something that would have amplified this experience is communicating that to our students in advance. The logistics and communication of how we gather is also just as important as the gathering itself. We have to entrust our students with the hidden secrets of the day and unveil the teacher magic of our plans so they too feel like a vested member of the community they are building with you. So less building FOR students and more building WITH them at the start. Next time, I am inviting students to our planning in advance so they too can be invited to plan how we gather at school and build the community they want to learn and grow in. I invite you to do the same.
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AuthorEducator, student advocate and community activists. Archives
October 2021
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