This post was authored by Burton Williams-Inman.
Honestly, I’m somewhat having fun with the title of this blog. I do, however, have a thought that I think is valid, and not all that radical/controversial (this is me, after all). It is April, which means we are solidly in Q4 of the school year and with that comes plenty of factors that weren’t quite at play throughout other parts of the year.
The Spring weather is fully here, students are aware that summer is just around the corner (and are unable to “lock in” while their friends are on break outside your room), there are a plethora of athletic events and extracurricular activities that require missing class time (I am not bemoaning those, specifically, just that they really add to the list at this point in the year), there is so much flexibility required for schedule changes and dress up days and awards assemblies, etc. It is not the easiest time to “run” your classroom and I want to fully acknowledge that. We are all doing the best that we can with the hand that we are given that particular day of the week.
So, let me give you permission (as if I have the authority to grant anyone the permission to do anything lol) to let go of “letting go” here at the end of the school year. This blog, truthfully, may just be a roundabout way of telling you that it is perfectly fine (and maybe even advisable?) to hold fast to the classroom norms and expectations that you set up for you and your students in Q1 of the school year. I think here at the end of the school year, with all that is going on, it may even be good for students to feel the semblance of normalcy and routine that can be provided for them. I like to funk and groove where I may, but at my heart I legitimately believe that students need and thrive within structure (happy to unpack at a later date). I think that students could benefit from continuing to exist within the world of “rules” that we set up for each other in the beginning of the year. After all, if they’re not important to us now, were they all that important to us in September?
Please do not think that I am prescribing a system of no grace or flexibility when those things are needed. I am all for extending deadlines when truly necessary and assisting outside the normal time frames of an assignment/class time- that is also, simply, the job of teaching. I just want to acknowledge that it can sometimes feel like there is pressure to abandon the systems that we have had in place for much of the year and I don’t want you to move in that direction if that’s not going to be best for you and your students. One of the best things about St. Andrew’s is the freedom that it affords its teachers by allowing them to run their classrooms in the best way they see fit. So, push on with your content, hold your students accountable, and give grace where it is truly needed. We have five weeks before exams start. Godspeed, friends!