Education logo

A Better Day for Our Teachers and Students

Navigating Reentry for the 2021/2022 School year

By Sändra AlexanderPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
Like

Reentry is one of the most dangerous phases of space flight. This is mainly because the spacecraft is suddenly unpowered. Due to friction, when the spacecraft hits the atmosphere, it heats up. That is where the real danger comes in. To survive reentry, a variety of heat shield mechanisms must work meticulously. If any aspect of the heat shield has been damaged along the journey, the spacecraft will burn up. Reentry is the best way to describe what teachers and students face as schools reopen for the 2021/2022 school year.

There seems to be no question that we have all developed cracks in our heat shields--in our resiliency and our self-worth as teachers, students and parents.

As both a participant and observer within our schools both public and private, preschool through high school over a span of 30 years, often what our teachers and students are going through, even under the best of circumstances, can be hard to watch. There is a perpetual tug-of-war going on, between academic achievement and graduation rates pulling on one end, and the need for nurturing, the mental, social, and emotional wellness and deepening connections between teachers, students, and their parents, pulling on the other end.

After a full school year of back to school, not back to school, back to school, not back to school, our teachers and students have now left school for their summer break feeling more than a little unsuccessful in both teaching and learning. Circumstances over the past year, COVID-19 and the personal traumas and tragedies that resulted, made academic goals difficult if not impossible to achieve. Self-worth of both teachers and students have been beaten down, many not meeting the litmus test of grades and achievement.

Suicide rates and mental health inpatient admissions have already risen significantly. And then there’s school shootings and gun violence. We need to do more than brace ourselves for the upcoming reentry experience. We need to prepare. And what if we don’t return to what we are calling normal in our schools due to a resurgence of COVID cases or, who knows, something else? What then?

Granted, meeting academic standards and benchmarks is important and well-ingrained in our educational system. But this year in particular, the only way forward is to set a new foundation on how to combine our efforts toward academic success while building value within our teachers, students, and parents by focusing on their other beautiful human strengths.

Rewarding and supporting kindness, positive attitudes, helpfulness, and caring is the best place to start to repair our heat shields, making reentry survivable, perhaps even shifting our perspective on education in the long-term. Placing value on ourselves and others just for showing up and shedding a bit of light into the mix each day is a big deal. How we show up for ourselves and others in the educational setting is a big deal.

That all sounds great, right? Like talking a good talk. But how do we teach a whole new way of showing up? That is exactly what we need to do right now. When we get that part right, everything will change. Everything can be different. That’s when teaching and learning can happen at a whole new level. That’s how we can heal ourselves and one another. That’s when every day can be a better day for all of us. That’s when we will be graduating our future leaders with not only high academic honors, but with a deep connection to their own humanity.

Being a teacher was all I ever wanted to be, or so I thought. And I did become a teacher, guiding students over the years from early childhood to college and incarcerated high school youth in between. As much as I loved my interactions with kids, and the satisfaction level for me was high, satisfaction never turned to fulfillment. Not until I found my true passion.

Over the years, as I worked side-by-side with teachers, I felt the energy of their frustration. They wanted so much more for their kids then they felt they were achieving. So, it became my deepest desire to help make the day-to-day experience better for our teachers. It just seemed to make sense that if the teacher was having a better day, then by osmosis, much of the time, the students would have a better day, too. And the stage for optimum learning would be set. Well, we did it.

After years of development and outcomes, A Better Day Curriculum came to fruition.

I owe so much gratitude to those who jumped in and experimented with me, fueled my passion to make lives easier for our teachers, contributing wisdom and financial support. And now, as never before, teachers and kids need to have better days as they move forward to a full healing. A Better Day Curriculum power tools offer the answer to how to teach and learn a whole new way of showing up in education both in the classroom and online in conjunction with teaching academics. These tools are the universal heat shield that our teachers and students need right here, right now. You can sign up and be the first to learn about our Better Day Curriculum offerings for the 2021/2022 school year.

If you would like to be a part of the Focus on The Children: A Better Day Curriculum Project, providing worldwide access to kick start Better Days for teachers and students beginning the 2021/2022 school year, you can support us HERE.

“When our young people know their value as unique and wonderful human beings, something good is bound to happen.” Sandra Alexander, M.A. Author, A Better Day Curriculum

courses
Like

About the Creator

Sändra Alexander

Sandra has self- published several non fiction titles. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Literary Journalism and a Master's Degree in Spiritual Counseling. Sandra currently resides in a small mountain town in Southern Colorado.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.