Month: September 2021

• Keep all remote resources from last year at the ready. (I have a feeling we’re going to need them)
• Plan lessons around getting to know more about students. Even if the lesson involves a novella, or any other pre-written story, treat it like just another excuse to find out more about them. Ask them how they feel about the story, what they would do differently, etc.
• Keep things simple. Don’t spend time on making everything sparkly and complicated. (I stink at decorating and graphic design anyway)
• Keep the intensity and stakes low. We’re still in the middle of generation-defining, deadly pandemic that is closer to the begin than the end. Life is full of fear, death, financial instability, food and housing insecurity. We can’t pretend like things are normal, because we all know they aren’t. Show even more compassion when it comes to grading and assessments than you did last year. Be as gentle as humanly possible.
• Rely heavily on reading. FVR, novellas, typed up versions of conversations, etc. Reading is truly the richest source of comprehensible input. I never remove my mask inside of my school building, so this also helps me avoid dehydration from talking a lot.
• Leave everything at school. The past year and half put a lot of things into perspective for us as teachers. The teacher as martyr idea is finished. We can pour our hearts and souls into our teaching while we are at school, but that needs to end when we walk out of the building. We deserve time with our families, partners, hobbies, etc. Balance is a good thing.

Please take care of yourselves.