Teaching is challenging right now. There is constant pressure from politicians, pundits, and sometimes the community. The promise of the demise of standardized curriculum and testing after Covid was premature. Teachers are still navigating a top-down world where meeting metrics is prioritized over the needs of the children in front of them.
Society says that they care about traumatized children and their emotional needs but then it cuts education funding, strips identity, and intensifies trauma when it centers schools as a political battleground on the increasingly divisive issues of the day.
Technology adds a whole other layer to the complex job of teaching. Should cell phones be banned or embraced? How does one teach writing in a time when AI can quickly do anything and is getting more sophisticated daily?
The stress of teaching in our current polarized world can feel overwhelming, leaving one sapped of energy and purpose. Everyone reacts to this in different ways, and we need the diversity of approaches. Some are actively protesting or constantly posting their views. Others passionately talk to friends and neighbors.
For myself, I keep reflecting on ancient times when one’s community was a village and the average person never traveled or knew more than a few hundred people in their lifetime. They did not know about every major world event instantly through the internet and social media, but dealt with local events in their community.
For my own sanity, I have been focused locally on my community and my students. I have no power in national or world political decisions. My power rests in the kids in front of me everyday. Here are a five practices that have helped me maintain my sanity and my passion in the classroom this year:
Disconnect from the News
Sometimes I wish that I could quarantine myself and ignore everything going on in the world like an ancient farmer, but that is impossible and would be irresponsibly privileged. Instead I limit my news consumption and the time and headspace that I am willing to give it.
Instead I quarantine my school day. I don’t watch, read, or listen to any news or social media in the morning or throughout the school day. This allows me to focus on students and teaching without emotional distractions.
When I get home, my wife will often bring up some news event that I have no idea about. In the evenings I catch up on major news, but try not to let it dominate my thoughts at home either. I have simply realized that I can not take on the stress of so many decisions and actions of others beyond my personal control.
Rest
SEL starts with oneself. As an introvert, teaching takes a ton of energy that I need to restore if I want to keep from burning out. I spend less time planning and grading and more time reading for pleasure, completing puzzles, watching a good show or my favorite sports team (Go Blue!).
In the past I have worked for hours every night, weekend, and over breaks on lesson planning. A part of me enjoys planning and designing curriculum, but I have realized that I have a hard time “turning it off” and planning can become unhealthy and compulsive.
Over the recent holiday break, I spent a bit of time planning at the beginning of the first week for second semester. I still cannot truly relax until I know that I am not leaving a mess for myself to return to! Then I shut down and put school out of my life for the rest of the break. It was great to spend time with my family without quietly stressing about the next thing on my checklist.
Projects
With proper rest and restoration helping me manage my personal SEL, I still have to deal with a standardized curriculum and assessments at my school. Unfortunately I do not have the freedom to design wall-to-wall projects, but I am slowly integrating some Project Based Learning into the curriculum.
In high school Honors Geometry, the curriculum is complex and extensive. One project that I have introduced is having students create mandalas (such as the example at the top of this post) to practice their geometry constructions with compasses. The project addresses key standards around transformations and properties of polygons. It leads to deeper learning as students construct the mandalas they see practical sides of the sometimes confusing definitions.
In the spring I hope to get students involved in the community by helping local manufacturers in product and packaging design while learning about volume and surface area of complex 3D shapes.
PBL gives purpose to learning content for students and motivates them beyond the traditional testing that so many of us are still forced to give.
SEL Competencies
The biggest way that I influence my community is developing the SEL skills in my students. If we want a better world, then it starts with raising the next generation to be compassionate and empathetic problem solvers. Students who care about the planet and want to continually improve society.
But in geometry, students take definitions and theorems and creatively apply them to different situations to “prove” problems correct. I want my students to use their problem solving skills to “prove” what is true versus fake propaganda when they consume social media. We need citizens who analyze problems creatively and deeply, going beyond the simplistic extremes usually presented online.
The other SEL focus in my classroom is collaborative problem-solving in small groups. This gives students daily practice in how to successfully work with others. Students develop relationships with each other and see strengths in others who may not be their personal friends. Group work is an opportunity for students to build empathy for others.
Focusing on SEL skills develops student leaders who will solve current and future problems with empathy for various viewpoints. SEL work is not fast and the results may not show up for years, but I am confident that the long term impact of developing SEL skills in students will create a better future society.
Personal Growth
One thing that keeps me personally motivated is challenging myself with something new. If I am not careful, I can get in a rut of doing the same thing, which gets boring for me and translates into boring for my students.
Lately I have been implementing Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC) in the Math Classroom, a popular method that is compatible with PBL and SEL. In math, it is difficult to use PBL all of the time because of the vast amount of standards required each year.
BTC focuses on students problem solving daily as opposed to a longer PBL unit. Students collaborate in random groups at white boards. Just these two aspects of BTC create the ideal situations for students to practice SEL skills. Some days students work with their friends, and sometimes they work with their “not friends yet.” They learn to understand and appreciate other students while developing their problem-solving abilities.
The world may seem crazy at times and rarely is anyone’s teaching situation ideal to every personal belief that they hold about education. Yet we can thrive and impact our students in meaningful and lasting ways if we take care of ourselves and focus on local impact!
Learn with me!
Are you interested in professional development for your school on how to integrate SEL or implement PBL? I would love to have a conversation on how I can help. I am now scheduling summer workshops and book studies. Check out my workshop page or drop me an email at mikejkaechele@gmail.com. I would love to chat and co-plan meaningful PD for the educators at your school.
Would you like to explore more deeply how to integrate SEL into daily classroom activities? Check out my book below for tons of practical ways that can be immediately implemented in any classroom.
Pulse of PBL
