“What happens to a dream deferred?” Langston Hughes asked that poignant question, and to some extent all of us struggle with that plaint hanging heavily in the air now, in these challenging times in which we are currently living. Many parents, as their children are the repositories of all of their hopes and dreams, wrestle with this existential query that often coexists with the human condition. However, if we think of great literature in constant conversation, perhaps we may say that Emily Dickinson sharply preempts this quest in equally moving language with “Forever is composed of Nows.” Although we may not know what the future holds, we do know that we must maximize our precious time.
Speaking in the language of poetry jives well with Parshat Ha’azinu, which contains the “song” that Moshe shared at the end of his life with the Bnei Yisrael. One of the many themes of this poem is the importance of passing learning from one generation to the next and the crucial parent-to-child transmission of Torah. We all would like to be teachers like Moshe whose teaching fell like rain and dew, always productive, where gentle amounts do much good. This parsha, aside from addressing deeper issues of Jewish history and continuity, speaks to the parental angst of this moment as well.
As a school community, we have a grave responsibility to support parents in their education of their children. This year that heavy charge looms ever larger as we safeguard the health and well-being of our precious students and teachers. This school year we expanded two major prongs of our educational mission to best acclimate our students and teachers and to truly ensure that our expertise would be as productive as “dew” in feeding the success of each and every child.
As Lily Howard Scott, one of our Hidden Sparks coaches, so aptly describes, sometimes a person has a window and sometimes a mirror into another life. When someone else’s experiences present as foreign to us, we initially don’t feel any commonality with the other person’s life. Other times we feel a special kinship with someone because we associate familiarity with that person’s life. Of course, to a nuanced thinker, these are not truly contradictory, and one of the hallmarks of a metacognitive and self-reflective education is developing the recognition of the tiny mirroring present in all windows and that a mirror is truly a window with a backing, and so no one can truly walk in the shoes of another. During this COVID time, recognizing the richness of this mindset changes every interaction.
This embrace of social emotional learning and emotional safety even amidst uncertainty is fundamental. Although we have been quietly increasing this foundational piece of our program for several years, this had to move to the forefront this year. Children and teachers need opportunities and safe meta-spaces through which to process their emotions safely during these tumultuous times. For teachers, this means allowing them to process their very strong emotions safely with fellow adults and limit transmitting their anxieties to their students. Small, incremental changes evidence large efficacy, as we all acknowledge our own glows and grows this year. For students, supporting teachers to weave more uniform supportive language into their teaching and everyday conversation promotes a safe learning environment. We know that emotional well-being is not separate from educational success but rather the foundation for genuine learning. Meaningful learning goes hand in hand with passion and the eliciting of emotions that a person associates with the academic material.
The other practical aspect of learning that creates balance this year is recognizing the importance of accurately assessing children’s academic needs and adjusting instruction accordingly. Across all grade levels, k-8, throughout the months of September and October, teachers are engaged in numerous activities and interactions that allow them to gather informal data about each individual student’s level. In addition, teachers are utilizing low-stakes formative assessments to assist in their lesson planning. It is vital to meet students at their current level of functioning and flexibly shift the learning goals.
As I am ensconced in my PPE, I stand in awe of the phenomenal teaching and learning occurring in our building fostered by our heroic teachers. Throughout all of these activities, teachers model safe processing of emotions in a variety of academic settings. Here is a brief snapshot from the acute observer.
Kindergarteners eagerly “meeting” their individual MAT people, blending their imaginary play and alphabet sound and writing learning.
First grade detectives searching for clues in a math story using their individual math manipulatives.
First graders completing “heart maps” to process their transition to in-person school and the tumultuous recent times, finding mirrors and windows into each others’ experiences.
Second graders investigating the melting of ice cubes and asking scientific questions.
Third graders engaged in selecting their own choices of books to practice their close reading comprehension skills.
Fourth graders writing poetry filled with rich color metaphors, where children can safely explore their emotions.
Sixth graders analyzing “Holes” and having mirrors and windows into their own current experiences.
Seventh and eighth graders asking questions to understand why an exponent rule works and proving it through inductive reasoning.
Seventh and eighth graders creating personal history research projects connected to our theme of B’tzelem Elokim and the wider lens of approaching historical understanding.
Eighth graders designing an engineering project; a piece of playground equipment for a COVID environment.
Eighth graders wrestling with their emotions and viewing lots of windows with small mirrors through journaling responses to reading “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
The strong and effective relationships that we are forging with students and parents in this first precious month of school speak to our resilience and adaptation of our dreams to fit our current reality.
Chana Luchins is the principal of general studies at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison, New Jersey.
