Show Notes

THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC ON OUR TEENS

What is the best way to support our teens after the effects of the pandemic they’ve experienced? After months of isolation, virtual learning, and all the challenges of a world that literally stopped in its tracks, many of our teens are headed back to the classroom. We ourselves are returning to our jobs and other roles outside the cocoon of our homes.

In this episode of In the Middle of It, that’s what Carolyn Gardner and I are talking about. We’re sharing some ideas and strategies that teachers and parents can use to help teens navigate this fall, as we reenter a world that looks very different than it has before.

HOW TEACHERS CAN ADDRESS THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC

For teachers, a good place to start is at the beginning of the year, during the time that you teach and train your students to follow your classroom procedures, rules, and systems. You can adjust your icebreaking activities to include talking about the effects of the pandemic your students have experienced.

ADMINISTRATORS’ ROLE IN STARTING THE CONVERSATION

Ideally, administrators are starting to think in this direction. As with all educators, they’ve been going through an incredibly difficult time, and have had so much put on their shoulders in the past year. We want to encourage them – and teachers – to proactively start the conversation about how their campuses will address this reintegration process, starting with answering questions like, “How can we prioritize this?” and “How can we make this the focus?”

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Last summer, professional development was a little confused, because the reigning question was, “Are we going to open?” However, right now, we can be talking about the things we can do to be really prepared.

A great strategy for administrators to adopt is encouraging teachers to look at what they’re already doing, rather than trying to create something entirely new.

Those community things teachers do at the beginning of the year can be adjusted and used intentionally to address the effects of the pandemic on students’ emotional well-being. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Just look at your plans that you’ve used in the past and tweak them to be more focused on helping students process and share their pandemic-related experiences.

You can incorporate these activities into games, which will also serve to lighten it up. Asking students things like, “What was your favorite Tik Tok during the pandemic?” or “What was the best show you binge-watched?” will help you break the ice and will facilitate going a bit deeper the more time you spend together.

Doing this acknowledges what everyone has been doing, stuck at home. It also creates a laugh factor, which can really create connection.

ADDRESSING THE HARDER EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC

Keep in mind those students who have experienced really tough things at home during this time of isolation. Given the traumatic effects of the pandemic on these students, we want to consider the best ways to help them. There have always been those hard situations, but hopefully, we’re more keenly aware of that as we go back this fall and expect them to be more widespread.

Journaling

This is where journaling, as we talked about in Episode 123, can come into play. During your community-building times, you can use interactive journals. While it’s not a writing assignment, it could be part of your first writing unit, teaching them journaling skills. You might even want to talk to administrators and suggest journaling as a way to help kids while still addressing standards. Administrators have a lot of other things to think about, so you can approach them confidently because you’re suggesting something that solves a problem.

You can encourage students to write in their journals in several ways. Here are some of our suggestions:

• Offer extra credit
• Give 5 minutes at the end of class for them to journal
• Make it part of your positive classroom management plan
• Award prizes for the number of entries they write

Everyone Can Do It

Some may feel that this fits best in an English class, however, it’s great for ALL subjects. Social Studies teachers can have students compare their personal experiences to other difficult times in history. Or what if we gave an audience to them expressing how the social justice issues of the past year have affected them? Science teachers can have the students research the medical side of COVID and share how they felt when hearing about sick friends and family. Math teachers can talk about COVID statistics and have students share how hearing those statistics on the news every night made them feel.

Creative Opportunities

We also want to be aware of the students who are frustrated because they’re behind for whatever reason. Whether it’s math or science or anything else, teachers can give them space at the bottom of an assignment to give them an opportunity to express that. Any kind of creative way to communicate where they are, emotionally and academically, without fear, is important.

What if, at the bottom of an assignment, a student shared that she is feeling behind because had to take care of her younger siblings and help them do their virtual school so that mom could go to her job? What if the teacher could understand that? And say, “Okay, it’s not that she doesn’t understand. It’s that she missed six months of instruction last year.” That is powerful for both teacher and student.

When we can put students first and really consider these SEL skills, it creates community between parents and teachers. That might be one of the silver linings of the pandemic. Relationship skills are a large part of SEL. When we can challenge some of our habits and be willing to extend our understanding to others, and we’re committed to the process, relationships will absolutely improve. That includes parent-teacher relationships, too.

DOING THE BEST WE CAN DESPITE THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC

For anyone who is frustrated with themselves or their parenting or their teaching or worried about their kids, we want to encourage you. Everyone has been doing the best they can, even with the mistakes they’ve made. Ideally, we can give grace about this last year and say, “Let’s move forward.” The past year wasn’t only unusual, it was also unprecedented. We can’t expect the same things from our teens or ourselves.

It’s important to let things be messy. Nothing has to be perfect. And for those who are feeling like they don’t work for someone so understanding, or who are dealing with challenges, know this. That doesn’t undo the good it will do to practice these skills yourself. It will help you with these experiences.

IT ALL STARTS WITH ME

The good always starts in us. Doing the work ourselves as adults is so important. We were not taught this way. Most of us did not learn this growing up, to no fault of the last generation. If we are stronger in these ways, it will not only help the next generation, it will also change us.

This may sound overwhelming because of your circumstances. But taking a breath and telling yourself, “I can do this with my students,” or “I can do this with my own kids,” is empowering.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Ultimately, Social-Emotional Learning is not just for the classroom. It’s about making those connections not just for teachers and parents, but also for communities. Growing that – and it can be any community, like houses of worship, teams, towns – wherever you can make an impact and give grace and create safe spaces.

Grace is POWERFUL and it doesn’t take a lot of time to show it. It does take choosing a certain mindset and preparing to give grace. That’s not a quick thing. You must do your work – grace doesn’t just happen. You have to be intentional.

FINAL WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Be aware of all the hats you wear. We have to realize that we are going through things ourselves, right now. Be sure to give yourself grace, too. (Which can be the hardest of all!)

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