Here we are – the long-awaited end of 2020. A year of unprecedented changes.
Instead of beating up on the year just past, I am taking a different approach.
One of the many social-emotional activities I did with my fifth graders last spring (and then with a new class of fifth graders this fall) was to focus on what is good about where we are right now.
So, with that in mind, think about what was good about 2020. (This is not to diminish any sense of loss or grief that you may have experienced this year, by the way. That is perfectly valid and needs to be expressed.)
Here are three questions I am using to reflect on what was good.
1 – how did I adjust my job and/or my daily routine?
If you are a teacher, here’s one amazing fact: without any warning whatsoever, you completely changed the way you do your job.
So take a moment and jot down all the good things you did.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
*transforming teaching resources and assessments into a digital format
*creating instructional videos
*incorporating more social-emotional activities into your instruction
*collaborating with teams of teachers to plan and create resources
*getting more efficient at doing all of this!
*figuring out new ways to conduct small group instruction
*becoming more proficient at Google Classroom or SeeSaw or Zoom or whatever other learning platforms your school uses
*learning and using new digital tools
*incorporating more fun activities (like class games or virtual field trips) into Google Meet or Zoom class time
*learning how to read aloud in new ways
*creating Bitmoji classrooms
*figuring out ways to create a classroom “space” in your home
I could go on and on, but I hope that this got you thinking about all the things you accomplished this year. And that’s just the job part of your life.
2 – Next, what were the good things that I did or good things that happened in other areas of my life?
Here are some questions to get you thinking:
*Did you figure out how to do your own job while also overseeing your children’s learning?
*Did you spend more time together as a family?
*Did you spend more time outside?
*Did you spend more time with a pet? (Or did you get a new pet?)
*Did you learn how to do something new?
*Did you spend more time doing something you already knew how to do but you don’t usually have enough time to do?
*Did you connect with family and friends in different ways? (Driveway visits, virtual meals or visits, old-fashioned letters)
3 – Last – think about what I did during remote teaching or during quarantine that I want to keep in my life or in my teaching, even when everything is back to “normal.” I want to create a “new normal.”
Some of my examples to get you thinking:
*spending more time on social-emotional learning helped me get to know my students in different ways. Academics are still important, of course, but I want to keep this focus on checking in with my students and making sure they’re okay before I push the academic focus.
*using Google Classroom kept me from drowning in all the paper
*I was forced to streamline some teaching, planning, and assessment tasks (shout out to Google form quizzes for doing a good bit of the grading for me!)
*more streamlined meetings! (Screen fatigue helped many of us to be more efficient in meetings.)
*wearing comfortable clothes and shoes all the time
*having my dog nearby while I was working made me happy. (I know I can’t take him to school with me when we return to the building, but I do plan to keep a picture of him nearby to remind me of who is waiting for me at home!)
*more family time, including more walks in nature and time outside
*having more of a sense of gratitude and appreciation for all the things that I just take for granted.
Before thinking about all the changes or ways to improve in a new year, spend a few minutes reflecting on the past year. What are the good things that happened for you? I’d love to hear about them!
Happy New Year!
