I am ready…ready to take a break. I guarantee your students—ESPECIALLY SENIORS—are ready too. I got such a sweet text the other day from a parent letting me know that their son got acceptance letters to all of the colleges that they were hoping to get into for next year. I had worked with this young man with his college essays, so she was kind enough to give me some credit for his success. I would say it was all him, but I was happy to hear the great news.
We have the pleasure of supporting people to dream and plan for their future, whether our students hope to go to college, join the military, follow a vocation, take a gap year, or call to serve.
Now that I have brought up the positive and bright side, I have to mention that teaching seniors can have its challenges. Without being insensitive to the thought of a contagion, I want to say that senioritis is real and highly contagious. We use this colloquialism as a way to describe the seemingly lack of motivation or slowing down once a goal (graduation) becomes so close to obtaining.
I remember hearing somewhere that the probability of someone attempting a prison break can increase the closer they get to finishing their sentence. Please know that I am not trying to imply that school is a prison. You know me, I love education. 😊 I guess it is part of an institution or sentence and when a high school senior or college senior begins to sense that their goal is getting close, it is natural for 2 things to begin to happen:
- Excitement and anxiety over what is to come next and
- A sense of celebration.
I have taught seniors for years, and I feel like the senioritis gets worse and worse every year. Meaning, I feel the struggle to keep their attention and engagement for longer in the year. My phrase has always been “Just get to Spring Break.” Maybe that’s not fair. It kind of implies that we are done with learning or schooling come April, and we know that is not true. I guess that I felt like if there was an actual timeframe to allow my seniors to get as close to finish line as they could, their goal would be obtainable, and we would help reduce anxiety and then enjoy celebrating and reflecting for the last month or two. Afterall, I do think that we should take some time to start celebrating.
Celebration ideas…
- Write a handwritten note to your students
- Ask your student to write a letter to next year’s seniors
- Let off steam; Find time to play music and dance
- Place a countdown board in your classroom
- Record a voice message full of encouragement and excitement (Try Vocaroo)
- Watch graduation speeches for inspiration
Try creating a lesson plan around having your seniors watch graduation speeches and then have everyone share through some activity about what spoke to them. They can define what words of wisdom or inspiration they want to carry with them as they walk across the graduation stage. One of my favorite graduation speeches is probably from Abby Wambach…
"If you're not a leader from the bench, don't call yourself a leader on the field. You're either a leader everywhere or nowhere" -Abby Wambach
All of this is to say, as educators, it is about the human connection. As educators, we not only teach our students state standards, but we build confidence and soft skills. Give them time to lead discussions about their excitement to graduate and fears of the unknown. After all, they have to wonder what is next for them.
See You Real Soon,
Erin