Balance. It is difficult for anyone at any age. Sure, there are those folks who have it all figured out and manage to do it all with grace. I don't know them, but I hear they exist. Maybe even beyond Instagram. I strive for balance, I constantly work for a better organization to allow for it, but at times I fail. I get back up. I learn. I adjust. I always grow and I always get better. And then I fail again. With 40 on the not-so-distant horizon, I'm comfortable in that pattern of learning and growth. I understand (even though I may not like it at times) that stumbles (and sometimes epic fails) are part of the good stuff. The stuff that allows you to stop and pat yourself on the back. But I promise you this...I did NOT have any of this figured out in Middle School.
My middle schoolers have a lot on their plates--they are in limbo as they try to navigate and balance between their arts area, academics, outside extracurriculars, family dynamics, and hopefully enjoying being 11, or 12, or 13. At times I struggle with the balance of grace and accountability. As mentioned in the first paragraph, I don't always get it right. In my life, I've sometimes had to get it wrong to figure it out for myself. But somewhere in between giving room for extra time on projects or homework and staying rigid and creating consistency is some idyllic happy pocket of holding students accountable for work, not enabling bad habits, but understanding that life happens. Everyone forgets. My question is often what is better for THAT student? To allow them to stumble or fail to give them room to experience disappointment in the hopes that they'll remember the lesson and do better because they now know better, or I am to be the soft place to land? The person that gives them that extra push and parachute at the same time. I don't always get it right. When I know I don't, I feel bad. Sometimes I get the opportunity to come back and make it right with that student. Sometimes I have to take that experience to a new day, a new class. Balance is a struggle. And the struggle is REAL. For all of us. I want my students to be individuals, to have confidence and to be capable of finding the answers for themselves--GO BACK and look in Google Classroom. But how many times do we as adults (teachers) ask for an answer before seeking out the solution, or digging through old emails ourselves? We all want easy answers sometimes. But if I've learned anything along my journey to giving myself grace and attempting to create balance in my own life, it's that the good questions never have easy answers. So, beyond this navel-gazing about balance and life I'm going to try my best to create balance in my classroom the next few weeks. 6th graders aren't always ready for the rigor of a novel study, of being pushed to evaluate an author's purpose, a chapter, a single line, the use of metaphor. So wish me luck as I try to balance reading critically with a love for reading.
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AuthorIt's me. Your teacher. Your child's teacher. Mrs. Wells. Archives
October 2019
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