Over the past year and a half, educational standards have tumbled down like a rolling stone from a cliff. And it’s not your fault. The pandemic has taken a toll on everything in its path.
But now that learners have returned to school, how do we lift the bar back into place? How do we reverse course and refocus our learners on school?
It’s a critical question that will determine just how far they’ll fall behind.
Some believe that we should ease them along—avoid pushing too hard too fast and build momentum over time. It’s understandable. After all, they’ve been through so much.
Here at EDUPSTAIRS, however, we believe it’s best to get them right back up on track.
In the past few months we covered the importance of teaching your routines and classroom management plan in great detail. This alone will go a long way toward reversing the condition and inaction the pandemic has produced on so many learners.
It will wake them from their inactivity and reignite their desire for discipline that lies deep within each of them.
A push for excellence in anything, regardless of what it is, fires the motivational engines. It generates thoughts of the future, which is extraordinarily healthy to both body and mind.
A second key to getting learners jump-started is to fill them with purpose. It’s to remind them every day why they’re in school and how it’s the avenue through which opens opportunity.
Purpose is the driver for every worthy pursuit in our lives. Without it, there is nothing but empty entertainment and momentary pleasure. Purpose leads to fulfilment and self-worth, even amidst life’s many struggles.
It leads to hard work and the pursuit of goals that take years, even decades, to accomplish.
Purpose can also be delivered on a micro level. All of your assignments should answer three why (or how) questions, which you provide as part of your lesson.
- Why are we learning this?
- Why is it valuable?
- How is it beneficial to me?
Having purpose, even on a small scale, is highly motivational. Without the why it’s hard for learners to see the point. It can be the difference between a successful lesson and one that calms them to sleep.
Finally, you must bring a sense of urgency to your classroom. You can have a calm style, but your passion for their success must come through. It’s a passion, however, that is deeper than just a love of teaching.
It’s a passion to change lives.
It’s a passion to help your learners overcome obstacles to become productive, contributing citizens. It’s a passion that hopes in the unseen and believes in what has yet to show promise.
The power of right here right now is a healing, meditative cream that relegates fears, frustrations, and failures to the blurry background.
It provides fuel and flow for the work that needs to be done.
Together—excellence, purpose, urgency—will not only get your learners back on track, but sprinting into their future.
