I’ve known since I joined Twitter four years ago that the education community, or PLN (professional learning network), is amazing. I don’t follow anyone who is not an educator or affiliated with educators, and my main goal when scrolling is to get inspired.
In the last blog, I posed the question, “How can we, as teachers, help middle schoolers navigate the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence?” Wow did @Twitter thought leaders show up with “I got tingles” comments and “I’m not tearing up, you are” feels. I’m going to share several here and propose our next cross-platform conversation.
There were three “threads” that I noticed, knitting together this conversation. First, we have to make space for the social emotional needs of our students in our routines:
Additionally, we must also allow our “normal” routines to be interrupted when “life lessons” happen.
Next, many educators spoke to the need to share our own stories with students and build relationships with them. It can bring out all sorts of feelings of vulnerability. In my class, I never have students do something I’m not willing to. This means we don’t do busy work, and it means that if I ask them to share something, I always model that openness. Do I ever feel awkward? You bet. Welcome to middle school! These educators make it clear that relationships matter:
Finally, I was struck by the educators who make a point of “going along for the ride” with their students. Actually showing up and holding space for students who need us is an integral part of the job for many of us:
And, the one that made me tear up because I’ve had this teacher—and been this teacher because I had a role model of who a teacher can be:
I hope these educators have inspired you as they did me. Crucial to this conversation is the support we receive from each other as we do the difficult work of meeting the social, emotional, and academic needs of our students. Follow #AMLE each month as thoughtful educators engage in conversations that matter. Thanks especially to @teacher2teacher, @sharemylesson, @middleweb, and all the educators who tweeted, shared, and retweeted to keep this dialog going.
For my next blog, I’ll be asking: How can we provide closure for our students as the year winds down?
Follow me on Twitter @MsAmberChandler and use #AMLE to share your thoughts, strategies, and inspiring stories, and to grow together as middle level educators.