With Christmas quickly upon us, we are again reminded of the different types of losses our students and teachers are experiencing during this global pandemic.
There’s no end-of-the-year Christmas pageants, Snowball Dance, or holiday lunches. Semester tests and exams look different and schools are always making adjustments for online learning and hybrid model teaching.
A recent Mayo Clinic article stated, “The pandemic has had a major psychological impact, causing people to lose a sense of safety, predictability, control, freedom, and security.” In addition to anxiety, students and teachers may be experiencing feelings of a depressed mood, lack of motivation, and irritability as they endure some of these lost traditions. How can we change this and support these feelings during this unpredictable time?
If you or someone you know are having trouble coping with changes to your routine and traditions, try these steps:
Start by Acknowledging the Loss
Acknowledging the losses are key, so you don’t bury them down deep inside. It’s important to work through your feelings and allow yourself some time to grieve.
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A high school teacher shared with me the overwhelming grief she felt going into her classroom to clean it out before school was to start virtually this year. She felt there was a giant hole in her teaching life, and she needed to process her feelings before school started.
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“This is not just hard on the students, but it’s a profound loss for the teachers as well,” she stated. “We miss them just as much as they miss being here.”
Create Connection and Predictability
It’s important to stay connected to friends, family, and loved ones to mitigate feelings of loss and instability. While continuing to stay socially distanced, we must also reinforce the need for engagement. Here are some ways schools can engage educators and learnings to maintain relationships:
Dig into the possibilities of a virtual classroom
Some teachers are getting extremely creative; they are sending notes and letters home to kids, having virtual music breaks, virtual plays and at home costume creation in attempt to create that caring connection. Others are hosting morning coffee time or after-hour grading hangouts. Find what works for you.
Create structure and daily routine
Structure fosters a sense of stability and predictability that is calming and reassuring. Draft out the next week’s activities and what students can expect in small doses. Start working on helping them (and yourself) plan for alternative traditions, like the ones mentioned above!
Focus on what we can control
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Focus on small things that are within your control. Create areas where there is an option so the student can make the choice and feel a sense of control over what is happening in their environment or academic world. It might be small “traditions” we create as closing rituals for daily virtual gatherings.
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Find the Positive Effects of Change
Loss of tradition can bring grief, but can also bring to light the things that are most important to us. We are now at a time where light may be beginning to shine through, and that is the hope we can focus on.
We know that in the future, things will improve. We will be able to slowly, carefully, and mindfully return to some of those traditions missed this year and last, while holding on to the good things we've found in the meantime.
Jason Freed, head football coach and social studies teacher at Brainerd High School states, “With each school year comes the anticipation of various school traditions every calendar year. Whether its homecoming, prom, certain sporting events, or other activities these become an embodiment of school culture and traditions that staff, student body, and the community embrace each year. As a teacher and a coach, I look forward to these things as well.
“They are things that serve as emotional boosters at times within the school year and events or traditions that bring the school together and enhance the overall school environment and culture. With COVID, these things have been put on hold and can be tough because you don't have those things marked on your calendar to look forward to as of now. In the big picture, when something is taken away I think it makes everyone realize to not take those things for granted and my ultimate hope is it brings us back even stronger and more together so we can embrace the culture and traditions that go with school each year. ‘Once a Warrior Always a Warrior.’”
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