We are hearing a lot of discussions around what to do to help our students with learning loss due to the pandemic. Most importantly, there are signs that kids are struggling emotionally. Let’s face it, so are most adults. I have been thinking a lot about SEL for students, teaching, and education leaders. As I sit in meetings and casual groups discussing the topic of learning loss, I wish we could have superhero abilities (like Dr. Strange) to see into the future.
Since we can’t see into the future, my advice is to try not to get lost in the way we used to do things. Let’s try not to get too caught up in the future and what ifs. I keep telling myself that there are lot of variables and situations we can’t control right now, and I am putting too much energy into trying to control or worrying about what is to come of our future. How will we fix or move on after all we have been through?
Social and Emotional Learning
Recently, my colleagues and I from the Teacher’s Pep Rally podcast had a great conversation with Joseph Hamer, the co-author of Brain Awakes: Empowering Children Through Breath, Balance, and Reflection. Whether you are a parent or a teacher, the activities in this book are worth looking at to armor kids with the ability to recognize and regulate emotions.
Mindfulness activities are great for people at any age. I have found at the secondary level, mindfulness can be extended in learning through content and philosophical strategies (for instance, Socratic seminars). Let me give you an example of the type of lesson you could implement in the secondary classroom that would both use state standards and create conversations about just being.
Secondary Lesson Plan Opportunities
I have really enjoyed watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Age of Ultron has been a great film to use to teach figurative language. It is sometimes easier for a young student to grasp analyzing deeper meaning using the visual and pop culture references in a movie than reading a poem on a page. I knew I would use scenes from this film in my lesson plans because of the rich conversations that reflect on birth, life, and death. Just watch, after Vision has been birthed or created, as he talks to Captain America, a.k.a. Steve Rogers.
Vision: You think I’m a child of Ultron.
Steve Rogers: You’re not?
Vision: I’m not Ultron. I am not JARVIS. I am… I am.
I was hooked. My love for thinking philosophically instantly kicked in. We have so many poets throughout history that right about a state of being. Vision did not narrow down the definition of who he was to Steve Rogers or the rest of the Avengers. He just knew that he existed.
Vision confronts Ultron who technically created his synthetic body. The dialogue between the two is poetic, and I find myself relating it to Robert Pack’s “An Echo Sonnet: To an Empty Page”. We all question what is to come of our future and more importantly fear the inevitable ending—death.
Vision: Ultron.
Ultron: My Vision. They really did take everything from me.
Vision: You set the terms. You can change them.
Ultron: All right.
Vision: You’re afraid.
Ultron: Of you?
Vision: Of death. You’re the last one.
Ultron: You were supposed to be the last. Stark asked for a savior and settled for a slave.
Vision: I suppose we are both disappointments.
Ultron: I suppose we are.
Vision: Humans are odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites and…try to control what won’t be. But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that.
Ultron: They’re doomed.
Vision: Yes. But a thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts. It’s a privilege to be among them.
Ultron: You’re unbearably naive.
Vision: Well…I was born yesterday.
Give yourself a chance to be human—just be. Let’s find grace in some learning lost and focus on how we can support our students and ourselves in recognizing and regulating our emotions. We weren’t born yesterday, but we certainly have never been through a pandemic like this before.
As you can probably tell, I like getting lost in Marvel to escape the stress and anxiety. I am loving watching Wanda Vision on Disney +. I will not give any spoilers, but we are being thrown back into thinking about who we think people are and what are people capable of doing. I think there are a lot of us that are taking time during the ongoing COVID crisis and limitations to consider who we are and what path we wish to lead through the rest of our lives. Allow yourself some time to adjust and learn because I have faith that we will figure how to navigate our future when we get there. For now, take care of you and model to our kids how to do the same.
See You Real Soon,
Erin