Unfinished Learning

 Principal ponderings...

Here's a thought....the kids will be okay.  The adults - well that's another story.  But our kids are going to be okay.  They have persevered.  They have surprised us.  They have shown us that they can learn in the classroom and at home.  Yet, everywhere you look, people keep talking about and writing about "learning loss."

I am part of a group through NAESP called "Innovative Principals Circle."  Principals from across country gather online once a month to share ideas and support each other.  The other night I was listening to different principals talk about how we are handling "learning loss."  I loved how one principal said they were choosing to look at it as "unfinished learning."  Yes.  That makes more sense to me than "learning loss."

Our kids have unfinished learning.  Lucky for us our kids are elementary age so their learning is always unfinished for us.  That's why they finish a year and then get to come back for more learning the following year.  This year, due to a pandemic that affected the entire world, there just happens to be more unfinished learning than normal.  

But the kids will be okay.  We will meet them wherever they are and help them work towards "finishing" their learning.  (Side note...I don't feel like we ever finish learning, so let's stop worrying about a deadline.). And whatever learning we don't finish this year, well we will be back at this whole educating kids thing again next year.

You may have seen this going around on social media.  

Thought it was appropriate to share with all of you:

In twenty years' time...

People will not ask the children of 2020 if they caught up with their studies.

They will not ask them what grades they made, despite the year off of school.

They will ask them with wonder ‘what was it like?’

They will ask them ‘how did you cope?’

‘How did you feel?’

‘What do you remember of those days?”

They will listen in awe to the tales of clapping on doorsteps for the medical workers.

They will sit open-mouthed to hear of daily walks being the only life we saw and how much we missed human contact and gatherings.

They will be amazed to know about empty supermarkets, online concerts, birthdays spent on a screen and a life lived inside.

They will listen, then sit back with amazement and say, ‘Wow. You went through so much.’

So think about what you would like your children to take away from this whole year.

Tell them they are not behind.

Tell them they are not missing out.

Tell them they are extremely special indeed and they will be forever made stronger by this unique time.

Tell them catching up is not even a thing because they have grown so much in so many other ways.

Remind them too of the fun stuff, the family jigsaws, the window rainbows, the zoom bingo.

The feeling of safety and togetherness amidst the chaos.

Let them take that thought with them through life.

Change the narrative now and it will travel far.

Tell the children they are not behind.

They are special.

They are special.

—Donna Ashworth

Let's change the narrative, our kids do not have learning loss, they simply have unfinished learning.

Currently reading:

I was convinced by 5th graders to start the Wings of Fire series so I am into book 1 and enjoying it so far.  I am also working on finishing Unplugged by Gordon Korman.  And I only have 4 hours left of listening to Obama's The Promised Land.

I also got a great new book from Scholastic called Standing on Her Shoulders: A Celebration of Women.  It's a wonderful picture book that is described as "a stunning love letter to the important women who shape us."

Events this week:

**Virtual Scholastic Book Fair all week, 2nd week of our virtual fair

Tuesday - SIMCO Meeting @ 3:30

Wednesday - Green pod furniture and 1st grade will be moved into rooms, Liz in PLT meeting from 12:30-2:30, 3rd-5th Grade Bookelicious Info Event @ 2:30, no staff meeting today, but I may try to meet with a few grade level teams

Saturday - Custodians will be working from 8:00-12:00 to finish distributing furniture and setting up the gym cafeteria space.

Check it out:

Interesting read from teen's perspectives of living through the pandemic: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/learning/teens-pandemic-art.html?smid=tw-share

And this...