Other teachers may have noticed that student behavior has fallen quite short of expectations since returning to the classroom this fall. Just today I read about trash can fires at the local high school and two incidents of large groups of "disorderly juveniles" creating havoc and allegedly assaulting others. Swearing is in style, as is vaping, fighting after school, and skipping class. Cell phones? That's a whole other battle.
Looking around at school it's easy to get really down about student behavior. It wouldn't be hard to go off on a tangent about "these kids today." And yes, I do that sometimes.
I'm also blown away by other aspects of their behavior. This week one of our TA activities was to write a letter to a senior citizen that may be feeling isolated by the pandemic. Every one of my young students embraced the project- even Daniel-who pushed back at first with "What am I going to say to someone I don't even know?"-created a beautiful card with an original drawing on the front and a heartfelt message inside.
When you're having a tough day remember there are many friends, relatives, and others that care about you, and that includes me, a 12-year-old kid you don't even know.
Another student wrote out on the front of his card, "YOU MATTER."
Almost all of the cards included a joke or a riddle.
I believe whoever ends up reading the messages created by these students will feel they matter. They'll feel good about the kindness that kids are capable of. I certainly do.
This was so inspiring and refreshing to read! I cannot wait to try this out with my students. Thank you for reframing the narrative.
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