Teaching the Original Covid Babies

This is my third year teaching second grade and prior to that I taught several years of kindergarten. My last few years of students, I have known them from teaching kindergarten. This year, I witnessed a brand new batch of kids come in for the month of September. I don’t know if scientists are studying these kiddos, but I hope so. I can’t speak for all teachers across the country, but Covid doesn’t just hit hospitals and small businesses. This year is different. These kids, the original Covid babies as I call them, were in kindergarten when school shut down. Having taught kindergarten for several years I can tell you that March through May is the sweet spot for kindergarten. That is when the magic happens for a lot of kids. It is traditionally when a lot of readers, simply take off. These students were home during this critical time.

Then onto first grade. At our district we had a large population be fully remote for almost the entire school year. Other students went only two days a week for the majority of the school year. You don’t have to work in education to know that first grade is critical in getting a kiddo reading to a level K or higher. First grade teachers sets the stage for phonics, handwriting patterns, fluency and stamina in reading and writing. I know some teachers and parents will argue that students learn to read just fine from home, but then I would argue I think remote is tough, especially for a non-reader. Older students who are already prepped for reading and can now just read to learn are in a much better position when doing remote learning.

Why am I going on and on you might ask? Because in the first few weeks of school I could tell that my students had been largely effected by Covid. There are several social, emotional and academic ramifications that continue to impact this group of learners even though we are five days a week so far this year. I am finding I have a small group of students who are able to read and a large group who either can read only at a kindergarten or first grade level, or have not mastered all of their letters and sounds. The group of traditional readers, really have very little endurance to read longer than five minutes at a time. I have additionally observed that all students have “young” looking handwriting, and writing more than a few sentences is draining at best. Many factors go into this.

One being that students who were remote did not have to physically turn in a lot of their school work. They didn’t get feedback on it from their peers or their teacher in some cases and so when I ask them to do paperwork at school, I witness a lot of scribbling and not a lot of pride in what they are doing.

Socially, these kiddos were not rubbing elbows with 17 other bodies last year, and are still at a “kindergarten” level in terms of working out small problems, WAITING to be called on, and handling conflict. One of the hardest problems I have had, is not being interrupted constantly. However, it makes sense, when you think of a child being fully remote last year and getting constant one-on-one attention from an adult and then going into a room with 17 other bodies and having to wait to ask to go to the bathroom.

It is not all negative though. These covid babies do have a large skill set in other arenas. They are creative, they are flexible, they are empathic and motivated. They are also hilarious. Having been with adults so much, they tell better jokes than I do. Some mornings, it is like an episode straight out of Comedy Central and I have to stifle my laughter and remind them I am their teacher and not a movie critic.

I will admit the behindness (is that word) of these kiddos has kept me up at night. I have asked to meet with my principal three times already. My co-teachers and I have burst into tears at various points of the day and I have sat down with the literacy coach and asked her how do we possibly deliver this new reading program to a group of learners who are not yet ready to receive it. In some ways, my reflectiveness is good. My heart is in the right place, but it is also exhausting. I printed off a sign and taped it to my desk. It reads “quit acknowledging all the ways you aren’t moving them forward and applaud yourself for standing with them before the race starts”.

I think I feel the most discouraged, because I feel so disoriented this year. I have spent hundreds of dollars on second grade activities that are much too difficult for my group to do this year, and this new program is so extensive and cognitively demanding to kids, that I feel like a bag of crappola delivering it to them day in and day out. It’s not that it’s a bad program, but spending time teaching kids a vocab word like hurled, seems off putting if they don’t know what sound short e makes.

I go to work every day and I feel like a gym teacher that I once had that I really struggled with. He used to shout at me to “get to the bar”. “Chin up” he would yell. “Get up there”. The problem was I couldn’t do a chin up. I never could then and I still can’t now. I used to hang off the bar, my pink My Little Pony shirt coming up to my belly button and my pig tails sagging down by my ears. I would try to flex my arms a little bit but gravity still took it’s course and before long my hands began to slip.

I feel like that is what I am doing to these kids. That is what we as a body of teachers and schools are expecting and kids are reacting. They are reacting by checking out, they are reacting with outbursts, they are reacting with tears and who can blame them. I am feeling like I am using material during the day and they can’t read it, they aren’t ready to access it, they don’t know enough yet and I keep insisting get to that bar kids, get your chin up, but they have no means of lifting their baby faced chins up over that bar and I’m not doing enough to help them. I’m not telling them how to build their reading muscles, I’m not putting enough supports in place so that they have someone on either side helping them see over the top. It hurts my heart to even type this out.

This blog might sound negative, but I am not defeated. I am vulnerable and I am willing. I have my masters degree in literacy and this past week, I made some changes so that I could quiet that voice that tells me I am not enough and make small ripples that will be big waves. If you are in the same boat as me, this is how you make those changes.

First and foremost, take care of yourself. Get good sleep, eat good food. Take walks, move in a way that brings you happiness. Don’t take those new manuals home every night. Don’t read them while your daughter is playing soccer, don’t answer emails while your son is playing football. Be present in the off time. Then you will be more present when it is work time. Keep your home time sacred and to yourself and to your family. You don’t have to be available 24/7 and no one will thank you for it.

Also if you are an emotional eater and grade level meetings or workshops stress you out, because you think to yourself little Timmy can’t even write his name and this presenter is asking me to have these kids count in Spanish, don’t eat the whole tray of donuts in the staff room. Be prepared that YOU WILL BE ANNOYED. Keep something healthy by your Zoomy meet. I fill my water bottle right before. Every time I feel an inkling of stress I take a sip. Last Wednesday, I’m surprised I didn’t pee my pants an hour into the meeting, I had so much water. But just trust me, take on the mindset, I’m going to take care of my body more, when I feel outside pressures asking me to do more. I’m going to treat myself better, so I can help these kids the best way I can.

My second piece of advice is to reach out. New teachers hate to ask for help. I get it. Self sufficiency feels like some kind of prize we all want, but throw that out the window this year. I have gone to my principal three times. I have said this kid needs this, this kid needs that, I need to do reading groups and I need help. Don’t feel bad about it. The kids get more, when you advocate more, when you go to bat for them, everyone wins. It doesn’t make you weak, it shows how strong you are.

Think of it this way. If you were a lifeguard and you had 18 kids in the water and 10 of them were struggling to stay above the surface, would you try to hold them all in your arms, or would you yell across the park, HEY I NEED SOME BLEEPING HELP OVER HERE. I know that’s an extreme example, but be extreme. You are only one person and you are powerful, but you are also human.

My other tip is, small groups, small groups, small groups. I don’t care if your reading program calls for it yet, but it’s magic. Your readers who are ready, they deserve it, your kiddos who are behind, they need what they need. They need to use magnetic letters, they need to build words. Design your groups around what they need and only deliver the biggest power standards to the whole group. Let go of the small details, leave them behind you as you drive away in the parking lot. This year is about giving them attention with exactly what they need, in the little groups they deserved since they were in kindergarten.

Also, build relationships with them. Go out in the hallway in the morning. Ask how their weekend was. Read books you know will make them laugh or they have heard a million times before. Praise them to the roof and beyond. Even if they have done zero right the whole day, notice one thing. Call it out in front of everyone. I love to do this for someone who is really imploding on themselves and throwing the day away. I tell the kids do you see how well Christopher is sitting (Christopher isn’t sitting well, he actually is picking his nose and tucking it in his mask). Then I will say if we could all sit up like Christopher that would make this story even better. Kids, can we say nice job Christopher and I mean have the kids chant this stuff, like you are at an NFL game. All of a sudden Christopher will be sitting up with the best damn posture you have ever seen. You have got this, you are the magic.

Remember, YOU still hold a wand whether you feel like you do or not and they hold you in that high esteem even if you cried on your lunch break. Hold tight, put on your seat belt, and remember, it’s not all about getting them to the bar, it’s about showing them where it is and making them want to jump up and grab it.