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It’s morning, and coffee makes my brain work, so here’s a thought:
I’ve been reading a lot of takes about online teaching and teachers, effectiveness, engagement, and success. I don’t read a lot about kids - from kids - by kids.
I’ve been reading a lot of takes about online teaching and teachers, effectiveness, engagement, and success. I don’t read a lot about kids - from kids - by kids.
Our Seniors are writing little blurbs about their experiences, but they are doing it within the frame of a college application - so it’s being communicated for a specific audience in mind (and one where parents candy-coat reality quite often).
Yesterday, during a call with the parent of a struggling student, I was coached by a wise peer to ask: “How has all of this been going for you?” at the start of my call because “If they hear you care, they’ll just be honest - and you really won’t have to say much after that.”
The simple sentence opened up a world to me. Mom spoke for ten minutes; her child came on the call later, and their interplay spoke volumes about the past nine months. I’m not sure anyone had actually ever asked either of them how they were doing.
My “academic” calls aren’t academic anymore. Any teacher calling home about grades and any parent who posts here about online teaching or engagement needs to remember that there are humans on all sides of this exchange. And they are simply struggling to breathe.
My teaching peers are doing extraordinary work. They shouldn’t be asked to compare last fall to this fall. That’s like comparing mountains to ponds. They should be asked: “What personal and professional support can we offer you to feel successful while you teach to a TV screen?”
I’m lucky. I’ve spent years speaking to cameras and screens - so I didn’t transition; I just flipped a switch and turned on “TV host.” But some of my peers actively relied on their “Teaching Spidey-Sense” in the classroom - and they are struggling to interact to a flat universe.
And many students don’t WANT to be seen ever - let alone on screens by their peers. They aren’t disengaged. They would have to have been ENGAGED online - on screen - before we could say, “Oh, now they are DISengaged.” They aren’t adults. Give them some space.
And bless parents as partners, because they are now seeing - really for realz - what life is like for young people. They formerly relied on peers and teachers and staff and administrators to pick up some of the pieces. Those folks are gone. They’re alone. Tell them they aren’t.
This is all to say: Breathe. No one is going to be unprepared for the world because teachers cut a book or an exam. No parent is failure because they simply couldn’t find a way to get their child to a screen. And no child asked for any of this. They are powerless.
Finally, cash prize to anyone who can make a powerful case for why any student should be traveling anywhere to take the SAT or ACT this month. The leadership of those organizations have failed all of us with their desperate and pathetic attempt to keep themselves employed.
Any college or university that is still actively engaging with the College Board on the use of the SAT this year, or anyone promoting travel and in-room exams as a precursor to a college application should have to face a jury of Seniors to keep their jobs.
I finished my coffee.
