One year ago, schools shut down and shifted to the virtual setting. A year of Zoom calls, video meetings, phone chats, text messages, and emails. A year of challenges for our students, families, and us as educators. These challenges extended past our virtual schools to the real world. Through it all, I have seen the unbreakable human spirit. Love, compassion, hope, courage, respect, and curiosity. These Seneca core values appear innate to educators, and to me. They seem resilient to the adversity we face. They are truly unconditional. Our other core value, joy, seems to come and go. One moment it feels within my grasp, and the next, slipping through my fingers.
As the days have turned to weeks, the weeks turned to months, and the months into a year, I seek out this joy. The teachers I work with seek it too, but it can be hard to find amid a sea of black screens. Administrators and service providers want to find it as well, but it can be daunting in the digital divide. We aim to solve a myriad of new problems in school structures and the student experience. Our school looks for opportunities to dismantle white supremacy in the education system, and I grapple with how to be an ally. It’s my belief that to move forward in these pursuits, joy is essential.
Seeking joy in times like this can be difficult. I admit in my work with students I’m quick to dive
right into an algebraic equation or to discuss providing evidence for a topic sentence. An area of growth for me is connecting with students virtually. I miss greeting students in the morning, eating with them at lunch, and playing basketball with them in the afternoon. This is also true for my connections with coworkers. Instead of chatting over copies and coffee in the morning, or debriefing at the end of a class, we are face to face in an online meeting with little time to spare. When our school delved into the hard conversations of anti-racism, we could not come together in the following days and lift each other up. I am nostalgic for those organic moments of togetherness within a school day, when joy was not hard to find and I didn’t have to search hard for it.
right into an algebraic equation or to discuss providing evidence for a topic sentence. An area of growth for me is connecting with students virtually. I miss greeting students in the morning, eating with them at lunch, and playing basketball with them in the afternoon. This is also true for my connections with coworkers. Instead of chatting over copies and coffee in the morning, or debriefing at the end of a class, we are face to face in an online meeting with little time to spare. When our school delved into the hard conversations of anti-racism, we could not come together in the following days and lift each other up. I am nostalgic for those organic moments of togetherness within a school day, when joy was not hard to find and I didn’t have to search hard for it.
Without those natural humanizing moments, I’ve attempted to be more intentional about joy. When I check in with students, we discuss what we’re enjoying in and out of school. In my meetings with teachers, we talk about lessons, activities, and how to improve outcomes for students. I then take time to ask teachers “What would make a lesson fun for you?” We tinker and collaborate on how to bring joy to the classroom for them, and for the students. In my digital interactions, I strive to carve out a few minutes of lightness and laughter.
As I sit reflecting upon this past year, a different perspective emerges. These fleeting joys I seek are the simple byproduct of in person human interaction, which I miss dearly. Having those moments can re-energize us as educators and motivate students to keep going. There is a tremendous amount of value in keeping our spirits high. It is important, but there’s also a deeper happiness to be found which can’t be sought after or created so easily. The true joys of Unconditional Education come from within the work itself.
I recently had an IEP meeting with a freshman student. This student graduated 8th grade and started high school virtually, during a pandemic. I cannot imagine living through a pivotal time in such circumstances. The start of this school year was difficult for them, but this recent meeting felt more like a celebration. The student and their clinician were happy to report progress on a journey which enabled the student to recognize their thoughts and feelings, and to give them words. The team, the student, and their mother were thrilled to discuss the positive improvement in the student’s behavior. Their math teacher was ecstatic to discuss the student’s newfound confidence in solving problems step by step. The student and I made plans to tackle a new goal in self-advocacy, an area of challenge, but one that we are embracing in partnership.
I recently had an IEP meeting with a freshman student. This student graduated 8th grade and started high school virtually, during a pandemic. I cannot imagine living through a pivotal time in such circumstances. The start of this school year was difficult for them, but this recent meeting felt more like a celebration. The student and their clinician were happy to report progress on a journey which enabled the student to recognize their thoughts and feelings, and to give them words. The team, the student, and their mother were thrilled to discuss the positive improvement in the student’s behavior. Their math teacher was ecstatic to discuss the student’s newfound confidence in solving problems step by step. The student and I made plans to tackle a new goal in self-advocacy, an area of challenge, but one that we are embracing in partnership.
This cheerful meeting was no happy accident. It took daily effort from the student, their mother, their teachers, support staff, and a team of service providers. Small moments of joy did sustain all of us in this work, but they can be conditional. They depend on the environment, the activity, and how we as people are connected to each other, which are all challenges in a pandemic. Rather, it is the loving, compassionate, hopeful, courageous, respectful, and curious moments we pour into education everyday which leads to meaningful joy. It is this joy that empowers a young person on their journey. It fills the heart of their family. It is why we persist as educators. A sustainable joy, unconditional.
Blog Post Written By: Alan Ellis, Academic Intervention Specialist
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