Photo by Patrick Buck on Unsplash
We are back in action this year in schools. Children fill classrooms. Teachers collaborate again. Schools are loud and filled with energy. Despite the masks, it’s as though we’re almost back to normal.
As we settle into structured learning, however, my colleagues and I are now noticing the impacts of lockdown and the pandemic. I teach the transition year in middle school. Each fall, we work to help students learn “how to do school”, as some of my colleagues say. Building organization, planning ahead, improving classroom behavior, and building grit are all part of the system.
My team is an experienced group of educators. We have a total of over 100 years of combined teaching experience among the nine of us. I would call us “experts” in transition. This year, however, has been quite a challenge, and we have not been able to live up to our own expectations.
Our student body had mixed options last year. Some could participate in our hybrid schedule program. These students attended school in-person three days a week and were virtual for two days each week. Other students remained virtual the entire year, yet they learned in the same classrooms as those in-person. These students connected to school via Zoom and observed teachers from a screen.
We all know this situation was not ideal, and virtual students did not benefit from the same experience as those in-person. When we offered the option last fall, I spoke to my administrator and voiced my concerns. I said, we are billing this as the same experience, yet virtual is not the same as in-person learning. These kids are going to have deficits. Parents need to understand. She nodded and agreed. But, here we are.
This year, in our classrooms, we face teaching students with these varied pandemic experiences. Some have deficits from virtual learning, some have trauma from covid-19 experiences, and some are raring to go and delighted to be back to a normal routine. My colleagues and I are struggling more than ever before to assess what student needs are.
First, students seem to be far more immature this year. My fifth graders act more like third graders than the adolescents they actually are. The games they choose to play on the playground are usually reserved for much younger grades. Instead of a rough and tumble game of football or soccer, many of them are still climbing the playground equipment or doing little games while seated in a circle.
In the classroom, we have silly comments constantly, and students are unable to remain in their seats for even short periods of time. When I decided I would show a movie on volcanoes for our class period one day, I thought the students would be thrilled. Who doesn’t want to watch a movie for the entire class period? However, after twenty minutes, the students lost interest and were unable to sit still and focus on the film.
Interestingly, I show the movie every year, and it’s one of the students’ favorites. An engaging History Channel video, the story follows several scientists around the ring of fire. Film clips of exploding volcanoes, deep underwater trenches, and tsunamis usually keep the students enthralled. I have never had an entire group of students struggle to maintain their attention.
Students also want constant validation of their work. What do you think of my picture, Ms. Smith? Is my definition correct? Ms. Smith, this is a good topic sentence, isn’t it? This is what I’m supposed to do next, right? They come to my desk to ask even when I have the instructions clearly written on the whiteboard.
For some reason, students also cannot comprehend the need for supplies in class. For the first month of school, we had difficulties explaining to students a homework planner must come to class with them everyday. Despite repeated reminders, students would forget to bring the planners from their lockers. And, I am not speaking of just a few forgetful kids--the entire grade seemed to struggle with this notion.
Supplies as a whole baffled them. Bringing a pencil and paper is still a struggle for some, and here we are midyear. It’s not necessarily forgetfulness or executive function issues. Instead, it’s more a lack of understanding of the needs for these items. They look at you like, “why?” when you say they need to bring supplies each day. Is this a result of living via screen and having everything you need in one room all the time? The notion of planning ahead or packing for an experience eludes them.
Some very basic skills baffle them. I spent twenty minutes teaching one of my classes how to properly use scissors. I then had to explain why you should not walk or run with scissors in your hands as several students started doing so. When working on a book project, I had to teach several students how to use a stapler. These students are ten years old.
Classroom behavior, too, is an issue. Students do not know how to behave in large groups even inside. They have not been with large groups of people for so long that I think they are so excited or overwhelmed that they don’t know how to act. Every situation seems to be a recess for them. Sprinting through the building, climbing on furniture, even throwing things across spaces like classrooms or common areas. I am constantly saying, “The hallway is not a playground,” or “This is not recess time.”
One student in particular runs at top speed every time he leaves the classroom. I have seen him regularly bending himself at the torso, looking down at the ground, and running like a bullet down the hallway. No matter how many times teachers reprimand him, he continues. He has even crashed into other people in his rush.
It’s as though these students have never had the chance to roam free in open spaces.
Sure, some of these behaviors are typical middle school actions. Screaming in and out of the buildings. However, I have never seen them so widespread and in front of teachers without hesitation. They seem to believe these are accepted behaviors. Even when reminded or reprimanded, students do not change their behavior. It’s unusual for this grade level.
Are my colleagues and I crazy? Are some of us too “old school”? Or, is there something to this that is more widespread? Are these the results of the pandemic?
Some of my colleagues believe we will get these kids back on track and back to their normal maturity level by the end of the year. I, myself, am not so sure. I think we are now on a different trajectory. For the next five years, at least, we will be experiencing these types of challenges. We have a new normal.