I love the “What If” questions Couros laid out in Chapter 7 of his book, The Innovator’s Mindset. Several of these questions make the assumption that the teachers are healthy and taken care of, both by themselves AND by their district.
Is it such a crazy question to ask, “What if we took better care of our teachers?” Should we start there? This year we modeled our professional learning around the statement, “Put your own mask on first before you are able to help others do the same.” Every time we are on a plane we are reminded of this. We are no good to those around us unless we ourselves are taken care of. As a staff we looked at this from several angles. We started the year learning about how we perceive our students and one another and how we are perceived. It’s all about perspectives and experiences that shape our thinking. Now, we are working through the importance of self-care while working with students who’ve experiences trauma. In this work we are being forced to evaluate our own trauma and recognize the coping skills, or lack there of, we have developed. I have been focused on teacher care now for several months. Here is an article to read more: The Elephant In The (Staff) Room
We always put kids first and of course that goes without saying but may I ask, “What if the teacher doesn’t have his or her mask on, can he or she really help the students around them?”