EDUCATOR SPOTLIGHT | TEACHER SUMMER REFLECTIONS
3 Areas for Summer Reflection for Teachers
by Stephanie Clagnaz, Ed.D.
Summer is coming! Most educators are looking forward to a well-deserved break from school. Summer provides much-needed time to disconnect from the challenges of the school year. Taking care of oneself is so important! When we are intentional about enjoying life outside of school, we have the opportunity to come back after summer break feeling refreshed and renewed. The long break gives us time to reflect on how things went this year, as well as time to consider how we will approach the upcoming school year. There are a variety of challenges that teachers in particular face. Perhaps after several weeks of self-care and relaxation, we are in a position to begin thinking about next school year. Here are a few areas of concern for teachers that are worth thinking about before we return to school:
Managing Student Behavior and Mental Health
Many teachers name managing student behavior and mental health as their number one challenge. Some feel ill-prepared to deal with behavior issues and even less prepared to address mental health issues facing students. Building relationships with students beginning on the first day of school can help ease this burden. Some questions that may be worthwhile to ask oneself include: How can I make simple connections with students to demonstrate care toward them? What unique challenges are my students facing? Is there a student experiencing trauma, which may include housing or food instability, immigration issues, or family separation? Something as simple as greeting students at the classroom door can be a first step in building relationships. Some teachers have had success with giving students a choice of greetings (handshakes, non-verbal greetings, simple hand symbols, etc.) as they enter the classroom.
Incorporating social emotional learning in daily lessons is also helpful. In New York, the State Education Department's Literacy Briefs give thorough detail about the integration of the science of reading research and social emotional learning. Consider the CASEL SEL wheel, which identifies five major social-emotional competencies that can be incorporated into academic learning. These strategies also increase student well-being and fortify relationships between teachers and students as well as between students. When we include opportunities for self-management, responsible decision making, and social awareness into our lessons, we provide our students with possibilities to learn to take responsibility and control over their behavior and interactions. Summer may be an ideal time to consider these possibilities.
Finally, restorative justice practices provide teachers with strategies to handle student misbehavior or harm caused to the community. “Restorative justice (RJ) is a powerful approach to discipline that focuses on repairing harm through inclusive processes that engage all stakeholders.” (safirassociates.org) When restorative justice practices are in place, the classroom community develops a set of shared values to which all are held accountable. There is no opting out of adhering to the values that all agree upon. When there is a violation of classroom values, students often form a circle, discuss the harm caused to the community, and aim to resolve it. Restorative justice practices, rather than punitive approaches, can significantly help a classroom community come together and can bring relief to classroom management issues.
Student Engagement
Teachers of all grade levels worldwide face concerns about engaging students in learning. Some distractions have been building over time, such as increased screen time on cell phones and other devices; the decrease in time that families are reading aloud to their children; and the use and influence of AI and other technologies. Many states have introduced policies and bans to reduce and even ban the use of internet-ready devices in schools. Yet how can we increase student engagement when they are reading full-length books and building mathematical fluency?
Summer reflection for teachers may include how we can better engage students by including their voice and choice in the classroom. “Student agency refers to the proactive and self-initiated role of students in their learning process. It involves students taking charge of their educational journey, including setting their learning goals, choosing the means to achieve these goals, and reflecting on their progress and outcomes. It's about moving from a passive reception of information to an active, engaged learning process where students become the drivers of their education.” (Dr. Charles Cole, III)
Think about beginning to implement steps toward increased student agency as a pathway to increased student engagement. What are some simple starting points for you? Perhaps having students set one learning goal each semester and checking in with them to help them monitor their progress is a starting point for you. Another way to begin is to give students more choice in how they demonstrate their learning. Can you design a choice board so that students have options to select from when showing you what they know? Begin simply and continue to build your repertoire as the school year progresses. Before you realize it, you’ll have a toolbox filled with ways to build student agency as you simultaneously build student engagement.
Diverse Student Needs
Most classrooms are filled with students with diverse needs. We are called to meet the needs of English language and multilingual learners, students with disabilities, children with preferred learning styles and modalities, children from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and more. How can we meet all of these needs when there are thirty students and usually one teacher? It can certainly be overwhelming! Summer may be a time to refresh ourselves on strategies to differentiate instruction. Remember that differentiation does not mean that we are designing individualized lesson plans for each student, but rather using one lesson plan and making changes needed to support various student needs.
The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be a starting point for considering three major areas in which lessons can be varied. We can vary our lessons as we think about ways of engaging students, ways of representing content for students, or varying ways of interaction, expression, and communication. Don’t think about all three of these areas at the same time, but select one area and think about how one lesson plan can be differentiated using the strategies in one area of the UDL. Can you represent content differently to meet the needs of students who may learn better if they read text, listen to text, or watch a video as they learn? Do some students need prior or background knowledge built prior to engaging in a particular lesson? Can you vary assessment practices to give students choices that may include creating a slide deck or video to demonstrate knowledge rather than taking a multiple-choice test? As you consider one way to differentiate instruction, the UDL is an excellent resource to guide your thinking.
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