Breaking for a fresh start
posted: Dec 9, 07:01 PM
Teachers and students are in the final stage of the countdown ‘til the holiday. Whether we spend the time between December 20th, the last day of classes until January 3, the first day back, celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or our own holiday of choice, it is a break in the stress of school.
It’s not only teachers who experience stress in school, the students do too. There are demands on the children from their parents/guardians; from their peers and from school staff. It is hard to be a student.
The demands on all involved are made more difficult within a system stretched to its limits. Where both the financial and human resources are working flat out to provide the best educational support to each child as is possible. Where human beings are expected to stretch even further to accommodate the demands created by government departments where all too frequently there is no conception of the average school day, nor of the average school environment.
When school boards cannot, or will not provide, Educational Program Assistants to schools where children have been identified as a danger to themselves and others it becomes a strong indicator of a system which is not working as it is supposed to work. The system is not meeting identified needs nor will it until someone is injured, or has fallen through the System’s cracks.
I often wonder how the forgoing impacts on the education of the children/students who are not a danger to themselves or others; students who can adapt to their environments and also have an adaptable learning style, but must be able to edit out the noise and disruptions which are normal in the average school classroom.
The classroom where one adult manages inappropriate behaviors; locates supplies for students who do not come prepared to work, and who may not want to work once the pencil, paper, pen, book, whatever is required, has been located. Think for a moment about workshops or conferences you may have attended where a small group were chatting and interfered with your ability to concentrate or to even hear the facilitator. Perhaps you remember a movie where the people behind you offered a running commentary. It’s irritating, distracting and ruins the experience! Our children do not have the luxury of multiple experiences of the same lesson.
I know it is not only the adults who are counting down the days until we break for the holiday. It is not just the adults who will appreciate the break from concern over whether the noise, swearing, arguing is “run of the mill” kid stuff or will lead to a fight. We will enjoy our holiday break.
The Holidays are here and the best present I can imagine is the return to school in January offering everyone, especially the students, a fresh start!