The Eye of the Tornado

Teaching children with emotionally complex personalities has been the most rewarding work I have ever done.  It suits me. To be honest, it takes one to know one. As a child, making sense of the world, aka my family,  did not come naturally to me.  I felt like a different species all together.  There was no question, in my mind, that rules, boundaries, and norms were meant to be challenged.

 My family did not like it. My clothes, my loud mouth (sometimes a bit foul), my interest in all things boy and few things girl.  I was the only daughter and my mother was intent upon her job of shaping me. 

Looking back, I totally get it.  She was just doing her job.  She wanted to be a good parent and I was a stubborn tomboy. I didn't like being messed with. This made our relationship difficult.

Today, I am my mother's biggest fan. We love each other deeply. 

At some point, in my 30's, I realized that blame and rebellion only intensified negativity in my relationships with others.  I decided to change my direction and incrementally face my own demons and cultivate self-love and acceptance.

In the classroom, I see a lot of rage, fear, and pain.  My students are young,  and in their middle years.  Their bodies and brains are changing at an exponential rate.  They are emotionally complex.  

Mostly, they need someone to stand with them.  Someone to be steady when they are not. Someone to teach them when they are willing and capable.  Someone to accept them and refuse to personalize their feelings.  

I stand in the eye of their tornado.  I am unscathed by their emotions. When they grow weary I am there and ready to help them continue forward. I understand the tornado.  I had one too.  

The Road Ahead: Homeschool @ School

What can public schools learn from the homeschool movement? According to research, homeschoolers “typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public school students on standardized academic achievement tests“(Ray, 2015). At first glance, class size is the obvious 

difference between these two groups. No doubt it is far easier to respond to student needs when the teacher student ratios are 1 to 3 versus 1 to 30.

Other advantages of a homeschool include, personalized curriculum, modified school start and finish times, and enrichment activities designed for the unique needs of student/children.

A homeschool is a personal rather than an institutional environment. Schools are challenged to create a setting that is responsive, caring, and differentiated to meet student educational, social, and emotional needs. Today, the challenge for policy makers, investors, and educators is to redesign the public school setting to better meet these essential skills.  Twenty- first century students need more flexibility and control over their learning path, the structure of their day, and the way in which they choose to learn.

The school itself will need to support these attributes, with an emphasis on comfort, curricular options, and opportunities to play.  Schools need to invite students to the table, like customers or employees at high-end, technology-infused hubs, like Google and Amazon.  Only then, will schools begin to match the dynamic nature of the 21^st century workplace, where information, technology, and collaboration are necessary tools to solve authentic problems and create innovative solutions in a changing economy.