There’s Always a Silver Lining…
“I’m scheduling 3-4 for daily workouts.” “I make dinner with my mom on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we always eat together now.” “I miss school.”
These are quotes I have heard from several students whom I work with and show me that there will be a silver lining to this pandemic. While we are compulsively checking the news and trying to balance work and homeschooling within spaces that are getting tighter as the weeks blur into each other, we aren’t necessarily noticing that our children are gaining learned independence. We definitely didn’t want the world to turn in the direction that it has, but since we are here, it’s nice to see our children being resilient, organized, and creative in ways that we didn’t know they could.
“I’m getting all of my daily work done before dinner.”
Today, children must organize their daily and weekly work as it is emailed or posted online. They may not be perfect at their organization, but they are trying and, at least for some work, succeeding. They are also showing resilience. They are emailing teachers with questions, attending office hours which are usually optional meetings, and developing routines for their school day. They acknowledge that they are missing the routine of face-to-face learning and understanding the greater importance of teaching and learning. They are making an effort to zoom or facetime with friends rather than just text and they are grateful to have dinner with their family. Ultimately, social distancing has allowed children to better understand the importance of interpersonal communications and having a support community.
“I have to figure out ‘creative’ things that I like doing for school.”
This generation of high school students is the first to be able to say that they practiced independent planning and work completion before attending college. It’s a test run, allowing students to understand the value and necessity of putting appropriate time into their work and being strong self-advocates. The pace has shifted. School is no longer just about the rush to completion but about the ability to plan and have the appropriate time for work completion. Independently managing schoolwork has allowed students to better assess their strengths and weaknesses; they seem more self-aware and are often taking the lead in asking for help. The failure to launch articles that we have been reading for the last few years may become fewer because of the skills that are being gained during this pandemic.
“I had extra time, so I started my common app essay.” “I’m reading the best book.”
I once saw a tee shirt that said, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Online learning has allowed our children to be kind to themselves and have the time to define their interests in ways that previous generations of high schoolers could not. It has allowed students to find resilience and organize in ways they never thought they would have to. It has taught our children the importance of managing and honoring the relationships with family and friends. Hearing what our children are saying, while in the middle of the pandemic, we can see that they are finding silver linings and maybe we should consider these silver linings as well.