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This school year I anticipate that building students' academic endurance back up will be a challenge. For over a year students attended school online from home, or attended only two days per week in person from April to June, but will come back to school five days per week in September. I anticipate that I will need to reevaluate the pace of my classes to help students readjust to being at school full time, and I will need to ask for their feedback often to monitor how they are feeling and learn how I can support them.

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To piggy-back off what Kimberly said, we are all navigating uncharted waters. These last few school years have looked so different than anything seen before, and they are changing all the time. Masks, no masks, masks again. Virtual learning, in-person learning, half days, half weeks. It has been all over the place for students, teachers and staff and it's hard to say when that will come to an end. I anticipate challenges surrounding the pandemic simply because we are all being kept on our toes. It doesn't feel like there is time and space to get comfortable or into a routine and I think adolescents (and us teachers) thrive off of that. I think it will take a lot of patience, quick-thinking, and a positive attitude to get through the next few years of school and what that looks like.

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Thoughts about "new reality" in classrooms

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Thoughts about "new reality" in classrooms

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I have not had the opportunity to work extensively with adolescents but with the experience of my niece at home, who is a pre-adolescent, I must say that the rhythms of the classes will have to be much faster, they must include a lot of interaction with devices electronic and in a group way (keeping the bio security measures). On the other hand, I believe that the strengthening of the feeling of community and spaces for individual reflection will also be necessary to be able to migrate from the virtual education that they have had for more than a year to in-person education.

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I feel that most of us, as former middle school or high school students, faced some challenges during our adolescent years. For example, I had some emotional issues such as poor self-esteem and peer pressure, and I considered dropping out of school since I didn't have any support from my teachers. I believe that current high school students are not exempt to these issues, and my objective as an educator is to be prepared to provide them my support and solidarity since I understand that adolescence may be a difficult time for certain students.

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I think one of the biggest challenges when it comes to being a successful and inclusive educator to adolescents is keeping up with the ‘lingo’ or trends. I think this is very important in order to create the ideal environment and classroom we desire. Unfortunately there can be a lot of bullying and hurtful lingo to ostracize and target students. Being able to recognize that language ensures we can continue to teach in a welcoming, safe environment for all.

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After many years with the same bell schedule, and spending over a year in a remote learning environment, my high school has decided to completely overhaul the number of classes taken per semester, the bell schedule, and the start and end times to the school day. My experience with high school students, and my son, is that teenagers don't usually respond to change well. Our school day will be starting at 7:45am (it had been 8:20 for years). Although I have gotten better and rolling with the changes, I still struggle when something that has been the same for years is suddenly changed. I will be adapting to this new schedule alongside my students. An area of growth that I would like to develop in myself personally would be my responses to change in general. Professionally, I would like to develop my response to my students' reactions to change. I recognize that I have a small window of opportunity to develop this particular skill, since we are 27 days away from the first day of school for K-12 in my area. However, this would be an area for me to develop as we all know that change is inevitable, and I want to be able to support my students.

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As an Art Educator for high school, a challenge for me would be getting my students, especially the shy ones, to feel comfortable enough to be themselves in my classroom. I want them to know they are able to trust me and their classmates to open up and express their feelings without being judged. My classroom is going to be a fun loving vibe where everyone would love to participate instead of feeling forced. I want to teach them it's ok to get out of your comfort zone because you'll make more room to grow. (even If we are remote still). I'm going to be so proud when all my students come out of their shell:)

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The challenges that I anticipate when working with adolescents are the large differences in ways that students engage with their classmates, teachers and the material. Some are enthusiastic, some anxious, some confident, others timid. I want to meet students where they are and it will take time to discover the best ways to understand and work with the varying student needs and strengths. I agree with the others who have mentioned the difficulty of transitioning back to in person school after such a long time learning online. Students at the high school where I work have experienced tremendous loss throughout this year. Many have lost family members to COVID as well as lost secure income and access to enough food. On top of the pandemic there has been escalating violence and many students have lost friends and neighbors to gun violence. It is an intense time and teenagers are struggling with these experiences in addition to the usual tumultuous years of growth and maturity. I know that students' mental and emotional health is a top priority and I don't want that to get lost in the pressures of "catching up" or "getting back on track." After all, we have all been off the track for over a year and it is going to take time to re-build our confidence and connection. We must be aware of the trauma that students have endured this past year and respond in trauma informed ways.

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I think I am the most anxious about such a silly thing. I worry about being a 5 foot junior high teacher who gets towered over by her students. I worry that I will have trouble managing my own anxieties in moments of high stress in front of my students. I worry that my efforts to connect with students will be strained because of my own struggles with technology.
-Bethany Murray (couldn’t see if I signed in or not)

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From my previous experiences in the classroom, I am concerned about defiance and receiving direct challenges from my students. At the high school age, students come to the classroom with long academic histories. I am concerned that they will be "hardened" by the system and might have difficult behavioral patterns that are challenging to address. When students are defiant and actively disregarding what the teacher asks of them, this can be frustrating and difficult. I am worried that I might not be able to do enough to open my students up to learn, especially after years of potentially adverse experiences in school.

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I haven't had any experience in the classroom as a teacher but in the job I have now I watch over a team and see the similarities in teaching them.. When I am managing the front, I feel as if I am sometimes too laid back. I want my coworkers to feel comfortable and have the support they need, but also being too laid back, sometimes they don't put as much as an effort in and or goof off. So as a teacher, I think one of the challenges I might have is finding a balance of being laid back and straightforward if that makes sense.

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One of the challenges I have had is the development of working relationships with the students or young whites. I think that will be an enormous challenge for me when I am in the classroom. Maybe it's a bias I've always had that I'm trying to overcome. This prejudice is due to a lack of communication or because I know little of the white culture, and I have always believed that whites will not engage with a teacher of Latino origin. However, I also believe that it can be an advantage in the classroom. Students of color will feel comfortable in a friendly environment, and I will take resources to include white students.

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My experience working in schools is that, as a relatively young-looking man, I have frequently had several teenage boys attempt to "step up" or challenge my authority in a variety of ways. Either that, or they will attempt to become more friendly than is acceptable between student and teacher. Before the pandemic, the teenage boys would frequently share lewd or inappropriate comments with me, expecting me to "be cool" with the conversations. I see this as an opportunity to teach them a little about proper conduct, problematic behavior, or even how to code switch properly between contexts and situations. As it stands, however, I will be appearing young for the foreseeable future, and so I anticipate these issues to continue for quite some time.

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I hope to work in middle/high school situations, and one of the biggest challenges that I anticipate is summed up in how to be a facilitator for students as they transition into the 'real' adult world and how to encourage them to be morally just and empathetic citizens.  There are a lot of different types of pressures put on students who are in their teenage years, and their individual situations might mean that they and their families might view cultural situations differently than myself.  I want to make sure that I can be the type of teacher that creates an environment which allows for them to be the type of adult citizens who are willing and able to tackle the social challenges that their generation is going to face, and yet I want to avoid simply telling them 'how to think' and putting ideas in their head which are not genuine learning situations. I want to teach them critical learning skills, which are essential for them to be successful in today's world, but I also want to try and help them differentiate between the 'real' and 'fake' information available to them in the digital world. Now more than ever, young people are exposed to complex ideas that might have hidden agendas, and as a (hopeful) social studies teacher for secondary students, I want to give them as many mental tools as possible to think for themselves when discerning information, but retain a respect and care for those around them at the same time. To be honest, I do not think this is (or has ever been) an easy task -- hence why it concerns me.

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When working with students there’s many areas I can grow in and have my reservations about. The first is the actual teaching. I think I could get through a class and build relationships with students but my concern is what I have actually taught them at the end of the day. Have I given them information that they will soon forget or have I unintentionally given them limits on learning. The other day I was talking to my after school elementary school students about using the playground and what was safe and not safe. By telling them they can’t go on top of the monkey bars in an attempt to prevent injury, am I also telling them they are not capable of achieving something. I want to be confident in what I am teaching and how I am teaching it.

Another anticipated challenge for me is not having enough support. Working after school turned full day care and distance learning support through the pandemic our responsibilities and expectations were increased while simultaneously giving us less support. This is a big concern because it is not within my control but affects what I am capable of in my classroom.  I have worked with a lot of different educators and know that when I have a good team around me I can accomplish a lot more. I’m also scared of becoming burnt out and pessimistic. In the future, I see it being difficult to lead our students while we are learning this new way of educating as well.  I’m looking forward to accepting these challenges and improving where I need to.

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I have a few anticipated challenges. I am afraid that things will be ampped up after COVID and we will be asked to push harder and get caught up rather than tend to the trauma that we have been sitting in for a year and a half now. I am afraid I will be even more spread thin working in the public school field and that I will loose my patience with my students. I'm afraid I will have trouble putting down boundaries as a new public school teacher even though I have been teaching for years. One of the reasons I am going back to school was to be able to have the credentials and to specialize in the content I am passionate about but I fear I will still be working a patchwork of jobs and still not feel grounded. I am also afraid of working with parents. I communicate well with the kiddos but less so with grownups. I will have to learn the skill of addressing their needs while keeping the integrity of my own in terms of boundaries and self care.

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I have zero experience as an educator in a classroom. I have worked with young people as an advisor/mentor/friend and I am passionate about my future subject areas but doing the actual work of educating in a formal class setting, I’m the new kid on the block. So, one of my anticipated challenges is not feeling so much like a fish out of water in co-creating and leading a classroom. I have led and facilitated meetings, courses and activities for adults, but not teenagers, which feels like a whole other kettle of fish.

Another area of concern, is the young people I have worked with and or mentored, have all been high performing, high achieving students. Most, if not all, are honor students, active within their school communities through extra-curriculars, they have a sense of direction, they’re organized, capable, and competent. These students are also enriched academically in other ways with resources available to them if there is a need or want.

One of the “knocks” I’ve received thus far is that I need to go work with students who aren’t high achieving and aren’t motivated, and who don’t have the level of enrichment and resources available to them. I agree that it would be beneficial to have this experience, but my gut also tells me, shouldn’t we hold all students to a certain level of excellence? Aren’t we as educators there to foster and enrich the lives of our students, that we in some way are able to assist them on their hero’s journey?

In a more pragmatic sense, I anticipate challenges on how to redirect students who may be off task or pulling the room in a different direction. I hope that I don’t seek structure and punishment as a natural default for me, and lay the daily foundation of a brave, reflective, empathetic, democratic space for students and myself. That I have healthy and nurturing boundaries. That I model for students’ excellence, effort, and good humor.

Children and young people deserve the opportunity to begin to create the world in which they will live in. My hope is that I can help to foster their innovation, creativity, vulnerability, as they become the brave and bold new leaders of tomorrow.

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I think that something that I will need to work on is making sure that I have healthy boundaries with my students. I am becoming a teacher because I want to be able to help people, but I need to get better at recognizing when I am focusing so much on other people I am harming myself. I will want to help all my students, but given that I am hoping to teach high school I will likely have a multitude of classes with lots of students to help. If I try to solve all the problems of each student that will be harmful to myself, my family, and more.

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I anticipate that working with adolescents will be interesting in that they generally have big dreams, ideas and have collected by ages 14->18 a depth of education, knowledge and interests to add to classrooms. My goal will be to give the students as much knowledge and skills as possible to make them a success story. I imagine that some students will encounter challenges if they are having problems at home, substance abuse or perhaps if they are working nights, perhaps even fights, but I think that if we can dig into what is happening that often teachers can help most kids succeed.

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I think I anticipate challenges that concern finding my voice in the classroom. Whether that be talking in front of a large group, or confronting negative behaviors in the classroom

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One of my challenges would be the language, I mean the youngsters' language. As a future math teacher, I need to be sure to talk to the youths in an appropriate language to guarantee quality education.