Entry #34 - May 17, 1999
"I'm anxious about having some sort of closure to the school
year that represents something more than a posting of grades and an awareness
of all the loose ends which didn't get pulled together yet. I feel a need
to openly construct a bridge from this year to the next...."
"Anxious" is the word that sums up how I'm feeling this morning.
I'm anxious about my long ride to Penn State to see my daughter graduate.
I'm anxious because a whole host of assignments and tasks loom large and
there's only 5 weeks of school left, only two until my grades are due!
But mostly, I'm anxious about having some sort of closure to the school
year that represents something more than a posting of grades and an awareness
of all the loose ends which didn't get pulled together yet. I feel a need
to openly construct a bridge from this year to the next with colleagues,
students and the community.
A few years ago, a colleague of mine raised the importance of beginnings
and endings. He had gone to a summer training related to his church/community
involvement and was left with a sense of concern about the way we drift
from one thing to the next. I was struck by his comments at the time, but
then I guess I/we got pulled into the whirlpool of daily events and deadlines.
As I try to make sense of this year, as I try to struggle against the tide
of student and teacher feeling that we're just winding down, I'm struck
anew by the memory of his concerns.
The concept of "less is more" is literally ringing in my ears
as I try to make some sense of our science agenda for the next 5 weeks,
and I haven't even figured in all of the special eighth grade activities.
How can I organize our classroom time so that the kids leave with a sense
of accomplishment and lessons learned which will support them as they move
ahead into another school or grade? For my own sanity, I need to make a
master calendar and work backwards. On Monday I'll share it on chart paper
with my classes... I know from student comments that they're feeling anxious
too and having their input will help to focus the work realistically.
But I'm not just talking about getting assignments done. I'm talking about
a different kind of reflection and planning. Not the kind that leads directly
to getting your records and ordering done for next term, but a new kind
which taps into the heart of our learning community. Something that cuts
through the anxiety about paperwork and responsibilities and asks some deeper
questions.
I guess I'm really asking how can we organize our collective time so that
the adults also leave with a sense of accomplishment and direction for the
year ahead? I don't think anyone's really satisfied with the annual feeling
of "next year I'll do it better."
Left to ourselves, some of us read, some of us even talk or plan together
with a partner, but we end up in the same place each Spring. We wonder where
the time went and despite our frustration, we vow to be better organized
next year and the next and the next.
I think we need to break this cycle.
Tomorrow my Critical Friends Group meets and in another week we will have
a full staff meeting. I think we need some writing, some conversation about
what I'll call "Bridging" for lack of another term. I don't think
we can just end the year and let "some" people work and think
over the summer about how we should begin as a whole school, in the Fall.
I know that that's the standard approach and that many teachers will balk
at the idea of reading or writing over the summer, but the standard approach
leads to the same old result, this heavy feeling of defeat, of opportunities
missed.
I'm trying to sift through all of the reasons we cite when we look for the
cause(s) of our failure to accomplish as much as we had planned or hoped
for, and discipline seems to be a central thread. We can all readily agree
that behavior problems are a major distraction, but I don't think we have
much unity on the possible sources of those problems. In fact I can't remember
ever having a general discussion from that vantage point.
Last year, our leadership team worked long and hard over the summer. They
assembled a discipline code with a uniform set of rules and consequences.
It was very good work, but there's a sense now that many people have gone
back to their own interpretation of how to do things. Why?
Now, after Columbine, there's a growing sense of a need for a response which
is preventive rather than punitive, but again these requests are expressed
without a recognition that reflection and consensus are needed before any
effective plan can be adopted.
I know my principal is planning on putting a conflict resolution class into
our students' rosters next year, and I'm glad she's taking such a decisive
step. However, I'm worried that it could become just another class, divorced
from the rest, if we don't develp a schoolwide focus on the underlying issue
of mutual repect or the lack of it.
I'm thinking that we need to ask an essential question, possibly one about
a tone of decency and how we can build it throughout our school. I know
we can't assign reading over the summer, but perhaps we can "strongly
suggest" that folks read a particular book or an article or two over
the break.
I just purchased "Waging
Peace in Our Classrooms" by Linda Lantieri and Janet Patti and
it looks like it might help set the stage for a substantive discussion.
Maybe a significant core of our staff would be willing to read and possibly
journal about this book and the issues it raises.
I'll share these ideas with my CFG and see if we can't act as a catalyst
for these discussions. As I read over this entry, I'm aware that I'm talking
about changing the culture of schooling. The notion that we should study
and plan over the summer is a threat to the sacrosanct, but self-defeating
notion of total summer freedom which we've been led to believe is our much-earned
reward. I think all teachers, especially good teachers, do think and plan
over the summer, but there's something about being accountable for it which
may rub some folks the wrong way. Time will tell....
We're also having our School Council wrap up next week. Perhaps asking parents
if they'd like to join us in some reading or discussion before school begins
would be a good way to up the ante on that body as well. Working together,
we could make a truly fresh start.
If a core group is willing to take this, or similar steps to broaden the
circle of planning responsibility for our school, I think we'll reap tremendous
results in the Fall and beyond. I'm tired of fresh starts that lead us to
the same destination every Spring -- and I don't think I'm alone.
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