What If? A School Post
First of all, let's acknowledge that there are no ideal ways to send our kids back to school in the fall. All the options suck. They are unsafe for the kids and the teachers, or they leave kids at home meaning someone likely has to supervise them, or they are a mix of the two — but nothing is great. And every single family is trying to do what's best for them, and likely has an opinion about what *should* be done based on what works best for their family.
But WHAT IF this is a chance to really re-imagine everything we think we know about school?
What if it's a chance for kids to (be forced to) be more responsible for what they learn?
What if it actually allows them more one-on-one time with teachers to develop that relationship?
What if it restructures things so that those kids in the middle of the class, the quiet, rule-following ones that don't normally drawn attention to themselves, are given more of a chance to participate?
What if it changes the balance of study to allow more "electives"? Or more self-driven projects?
What if it change the relationship of sports to school?
What if it changes the hours (or the months) that we teach?
What if it builds more technological literacy among kids?
What if it changes what they *should* know to what they *can* know?
Wha if it organically allows parents to be more involved with their child's education, while simultaneously making the child more responsible for their own work?
What if it reduces bullying in schools?
What if it reduces or eliminates school shootings?
What if we use this as a way to really and honestly address the opportunity gap?
What if this makes families less reliant on schools as a way to serve societal needs (childcare, nutrition, etc.) and helps them find other ways to meet those needs?
What if this led us to create more equitable programs for special ed, ESL, and other needs?
What if this began to lead to true education equity, and what does that look like?
What if this forces a long-overdue renovation of school buildings?
What if we never had to buy mountains of school supplies again?
What if this allows us to really recognize the work that teachers do, and support that?
What if it makes administrators and school boards make harder choices, and rewards them for that leadership?
Now there's every chance that you think some of these "what ifs" are great, and some are terrible, and that you are saying "That won't work!" But what if we make it work because we have no other option?
This is a terrible time, and it's really easy to say that we just want things to go back to "normal." But the fact is that we're not going to. So we can chose complaining about it, or we can try to make it better. I am always going to chose the latter.
What if we all did?
But WHAT IF this is a chance to really re-imagine everything we think we know about school?
What if it's a chance for kids to (be forced to) be more responsible for what they learn?
What if it actually allows them more one-on-one time with teachers to develop that relationship?
What if it restructures things so that those kids in the middle of the class, the quiet, rule-following ones that don't normally drawn attention to themselves, are given more of a chance to participate?
What if it changes the balance of study to allow more "electives"? Or more self-driven projects?
What if it change the relationship of sports to school?
What if it changes the hours (or the months) that we teach?
What if it builds more technological literacy among kids?
What if it changes what they *should* know to what they *can* know?
Wha if it organically allows parents to be more involved with their child's education, while simultaneously making the child more responsible for their own work?
What if it reduces bullying in schools?
What if it reduces or eliminates school shootings?
What if we use this as a way to really and honestly address the opportunity gap?
What if this makes families less reliant on schools as a way to serve societal needs (childcare, nutrition, etc.) and helps them find other ways to meet those needs?
What if this led us to create more equitable programs for special ed, ESL, and other needs?
What if this began to lead to true education equity, and what does that look like?
What if this forces a long-overdue renovation of school buildings?
What if we never had to buy mountains of school supplies again?
What if this allows us to really recognize the work that teachers do, and support that?
What if it makes administrators and school boards make harder choices, and rewards them for that leadership?
Now there's every chance that you think some of these "what ifs" are great, and some are terrible, and that you are saying "That won't work!" But what if we make it work because we have no other option?
This is a terrible time, and it's really easy to say that we just want things to go back to "normal." But the fact is that we're not going to. So we can chose complaining about it, or we can try to make it better. I am always going to chose the latter.
What if we all did?
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