Tag: transition

End-of-School Year Strife

I recently read “Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose,” written by Jennifer Breheny Wallace. She discussed the human need to matter and all the ways that our value is confirmed. One chapter was about the magic of places that make us feel like we belong. She told stories of a pub with a time for children to dance while parents chat, coffee shops that offer a table reserved for conversation among patrons, and game night cafes.

A well-designed classroom offers this magic for the students and teachers. The class expectations, routines, and layout can cultivate conversation, collaboration, and self-directed learning. Friendships deepen, support is given when someone struggles, and victories are celebrated. The school year becomes magical, and ends too quickly.

For many students, this is a time of year filled with state assessments, end-of-year banquets and parties, and “the lasts”. The last practice. The past group project. The last rehearsal. The last game. The last day with a teacher who created a magical place where they belonged.

It is a confusing time. A student is both excited for the summer break, tired from studying, and grieving that the school year is ending, all in a single moment. As adults, we watch them struggling and tend to ask complicated questions like, ” How are you doing?”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there are some classrooms that don’t have that magic. Some students are excited to be done with that class, that subject, and/or that teacher. But even when we are ready to be done, we might not be ready for change.

Also, let’s mention for a moment the “May-cember” that parents are juggling. They are doing everything they can to manage a calendar that would make anyone tired.

Teachers are also struggling with the end of the year. They have to say goodbye to students they have poured their heart, mind, sweat, and tears into for months. Simultaneously, they need to complete the end of the year assessments, grades, prepare files to hand off to the next teacher, make plans for the master schedule next year, complete their professional development paperwork for licensure renewals, finalize any outstanding evaluations, finish any progress monitoring data, plan the end of the year party, get/make gifts for their students, and at some point eat, sleep, and do laundry. I have always said, the thing we often forget about education is that it is the only professional career where every project has the exact same due date.

Somehow, students, parents, and teachers make it through the last month of school every year. They make plans for how to minimize the stress and chaos next year (as though they really can), and they greet summer with joy. They sleep in, stay in their pajamas, swim, play, read, travel, and, after a few weeks, dream about starting a new school year and all the magic that it will bring.

Start Before You Are Ready

On the Work In Progress podcast, Cecile Richards shared a guiding statement: “Start before you are ready.”

I thought back to all the adventures in my life I started before I was truly ready. As someone who works so hard to get it done perfectly, I want to be fully prepared, yet I remember so many times that I thought I was ready when I wasn’t really. Significant moments that come to mind include the first day of high school, starting on the lacrosse team, going to college, running a half marathon, and my first job. I experienced each of these moments even though I hadn’t proven beyond a doubt that I was ready.

How often do we expect students, particularly students with disabilities, to “prove” they are ready?

For instance, in the first few weeks of kindergarten, you will observe students who are already reading and writing their names, some who know all the letters, and some who have not yet learned the names of most letters. You will see students working with their peers and some who are shy. Some students will cry or cling to their parents and others run right into class. These are natural differences. Yet, every year, there are kindergarteners with a disability assigned to a separate classroom until they can show they are ready; ready to read, ready to listen, and ready to work independently. Why are we asking them to achieve a higher level than their peers?

This expectation of “readiness” continues throughout their school years, to high school. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires a transition plan for students beginning no later than age 16. The students need to identify their career goals and education/training plans following high school. Some will also have goals related to independence and community involvement. This is important work. It helps everyone plan together to support the student to achieve their goals. When training or working with teachers and parents, the number one concern I hear is that students choose goals they aren’t ready for or can’t possibly achieve. As a result, we hold students back, waiting for them to be ready. How will they learn to be ready if they aren’t allowed to try it? Some of my greatest victories were when I had to try, fail, and try again. Why are we so afraid that a student with a disability will make a mistake? Or fail on their first, second, or thirty-fifth try? We are, unintentionally, denying the experience of victory and accomplishment.

Admittedly, the stakes get higher as the students get older. This is why it is essential we provide them opportunities early and often. Before they are ready, let them go to kindergarten, try to ride a bike, try out for the talent show, and play tetherball. They will learn life-long lessons about the value of perseverance and become resilient with each effort. Then, as adults, they will have the fortitude to try a new job, learn a new skill, or move out to go to school. In short, they will become confident, resilient adults. Isn’t that the goal?