Transition
I hate transitions.
I’m like a pre-schooler who can’t go from playing dolls in the corner to sitting in a circle for Morning Meeting without
getting anxious.
I’m great at equilibrium, though. I can be very happy playing with dolls in the corner. And I can be very happy sitting in a circle for Morning Meeting.
It’s just the transition that throws me.
Which makes me wonder about schools. And, specifically, about teachers and administrators. Who have made, oh, about a trillion transitions just in the past year. And are looking at making another huge one this fall when everyone presumably heads back to school,
heads back to “normal.”
Because I guess I’m not sure what “normal” will — or should — look like.
For example, what are teachers and administrators going to do with the emotions they have felt over the past 14 months? Are those emotions just going to evaporate? How easy will it be to bring one’s best self back to school in the fall?
What emotions and needs will students be bringing this fall? What impact will those emotions have on classrooms? On teachers? On administrators?
What have teachers and administrators learned from COVID? What do you want to keep? What do you want to leave behind?
What structures might be put in place in schools to help everyone deal with whatever comes up as a result of the transition to the post-COVID “normal”?
How can teachers and administrators be deliberate about this transition so that, whether you like transitions or not, this one happens most productively, healthily,
healingly?
I hate transitions, but I confess this moment feels promising to me. As with almost everything COVID, this reality feels all fogged up with uncertainty. But it’s there. I can feel it.