Hi all! Happy back to school season!
I can't speak for everyone else, but, for me, this school year feels different. It's a strange mix of grappling with the fact that we're entering the 3rd school year that is, in some way, impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic alongside a hope that this year will be the one that gets us back to somewhere approaching normal. There's disappointment that the ravages of the pandemic aren't fully behind us and there's cautious, optimistic hope that some semblances of normalcy are returning.
My school administration has done what I consider to be a very good job of helping me process these complicated feelings. They've encouraged students and staff to consider how much progress has been made over the course of the last year and how much better off we are as a collective group. Even though it can feel frustrating to think we're still not through this, and those frustrations are fully warranted, it's hard to deny that things are looking up from the start of school last year.
For one, there's a vaccine available to counter Covid. A year ago, that wasn't the case. Through the educational lens (and mainly focusing on many US districts), we teachers are not about to dive headfirst into our first encounter with hybrid instruction. Things aren't perfect, they're not back to normal yet, and that can be upsetting. That's fully valid.
I'm here, in the context of this blog post, not to invalidate or downplay the still ongoing effects of the pandemic. I'm also going to attempt to not dive too deeply into my own opinions regarding the larger handling of the pandemic. Not because I don't think my own opinions are well thought out, but because I don't believe it has much bearing on the overall point of this post.
One thing I do want to address, however, before getting to the main point of this piece, is that I fully support preventative health measures as the true way out of this pandemic. I'm fully vaccinated, I follow mask guidelines, I agree that social distancing should be implemented in vulnerable populations. I'm about to talk about how wonderful I think extracurricular activities are and what an amazing impact they have on our students, but I want to make it abundantly clear that, while I'm stoked to see some of these activities making a return (albeit a modified one), I am only able to support these activities when they are implemented safely.
And it's not always easy to know exactly what that looks like. The guidelines for safe interactions can feel like they change hour by hour anymore; it can be difficult to keep up with what's current. In that regard, here's how I go about attempting to make decisions that err on the side of caution. One: follow the most up-to-date guidelines available. Two: troubleshoot potential exposure points and devise solutions (for instance, students being grouped into small pods). Three: make sure everyone involved, students, parents, administration, teachers, etc., are on the same page (set firm rules and stick to them). Four: get ready to be flexible.
Is this strategy perfect? Assuredly not. But I believe it balances being proactive and realistic with gradually drifting back towards normal.
Anyway, now that that rather long introduction is behind us (these things used to be so much shorter before Covid!), I want to dive into the point of this post: how excellent extracurriculars, even when necessarily modified to fit into this pandemic world, are for students and how excited I am to see some of them beginning to return.
When I was in high school, our principal was famous for encouraging students to join some kind of extracurricular. Whether it was band, robotics, Key Club, football, soccer, drama, chorus or any of the other stellar clubs we had, he wanted each student to be a member of at least one. My parents also understood the importance of encouraging me and my brothers to be involved (but not over-scheduled) with clubs and organizations that interested us. We all participated in band, service organizations, book clubs, and my younger brother found a love for baseball when he was very young.
Clubs and extracurriculars, when a student is allowed to explore them and choose an activity that interests them, are a wonderful place to find sparks of passion and creativity. Since I started teaching, I've worked with the Drama Club at my school. For the past several years, I've been the Assistant Director in a truly magical club that has become one of my favorite parts of my teaching career. There's something so beautiful at seeing the sense of community, the friendships, that form over the course of putting on a show. Students find their school families in club rooms, on sports teams, in any place where the work of finding common ground's already done. Bringing students together, having them work together in service of a common passion and goal...
It makes those students feel like they belong. Like they fit, like they have a place in school.
Part of that comes from, I believe, a place of choice. Students typically don't get to choose when they go to Math or ELA. They don't get to choose who's in their class, they might not even (especially in these contact tracing times) get to choose where they sit.
Just putting 20 middle schoolers in a room and telling them to bond with each other isn't enough. One of my favorite parts of extracurriculars as a teacher is that, by and large, the students I work with in Drama Club all want to be there. I know, I know- I know, as a teacher, it pains me to think that students aren't always 100% stoked to come to my ELA class (even though I put so much thought into making sure it's engaging, rigorous, and fun!), but, to go back to my high school principal, every kid needs to find their "thing."
A student may struggle with Math or Reading. It may make those subjects stressful for them, which can cause avoidance or manifest as dislike. I'm not saying we should just go on, writing off some of our students as "not liking Math," but it'd be foolish not to recognize that there are elements of day-to-day school life that are challenging for all. Having an extracurricular, a place where a student feels they truly shine, a place where their passion is recognized, a place where the individual pressures and dramas of academic life are temporarily shelved...
Well, it creates a reason. A draw, a pull, that makes that student want to be in school. For some students, the love and draw of academics might be their "thing," but, especially for students who may have difficulties or anxiety relating to the classroom, extracurriculars can offer a much needed outlet, confidence boost, and a chance to connect with teachers and staff outside of an academic environment. My Drama Club director (shout outs, Mrs. Spoer!) is a perfect example of this. Though the years I've worked with her, I've witnessed firsthand the amazing connections she's made with an uncountable number of students. She really makes them feel, no matter the size of their role, that it's their show. The pride and joy and excitement that happens backstage after opening night is a testament to how every single member of the club feels seen and valued. And the fact that we have so, so many students who volunteer as high school mentors with the shows after they've graduated middle school just further underscores how much their time spent in our Drama Club meant to them.
Extracurriculars are also fantastic places for students to take risks, try new things out, and learn some valuable life lessons. Drawing on Drama Club again (because it's on the brain), one of the earliest lessons students who are interested in joining our club learn is how to prepare for a role, how to audition, and how to deal with what comes next. We're a no cut club (meaning everyone's in the show if they want to be), but that doesn't mean there can be 50 Mary Poppins-es running around onstage. Through the audition process, students naturally uncover their strengths, work through struggles, and learn that neither success nor a setback is the end of the road. While these lessons can, and are, imparted in the classroom, it seems to me that both success and a setback seem far less permanent in an extracurricular setting. That is, if a student fails a test, unless we are actively fostering a growth mindset (which we should be doing), they may feel that they just aren't "good" at the subject. It's frustrating, but it's a common refrain for many teachers: I'm just not good at blank.
On the flipside, it seems to me that most students in extracurriculars have a level of confidence in their abilities that make them less likely to write off a loss or a setback as not being "good." It seems, from my perspective, it's not, "I didn't get the lead because I'm not good," or "They just don't like me," it's more along the lines of, "I'll reflect on what I did this time and incorporate it into my next audition." Failures, setbacks, losses, whatever you want to call them, they happen at all phases of life. But, for whatever reason, in the classroom, they're sometimes treated like the end-all-be-all, by students, parents, even teachers. And, while that on its own deserves a deeper examination to be fully understood and course-corrected, extracurriculars just aren't the same. To sum it up, again, from my view, it seems like the expectation to always get a 100% on every assignment is way more common than the expectation to win every game or meet.
I hope that this has helped you consider what there is to look forward to as we move closer towards the end of this pandemic. We may not know exactly where that end is, but, even if it doesn't always feel like it, progress is being made. Please be safe, happy, and healthy as we start what is hopefully the last school year to be directly affected by this pandemic.
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