It’s a lost year. When his brother graduated third grade, he was so much further along. How will these kids ever catch up?
This summer, the learning loss narrative is still hanging around like a heavy cloud, exacerbating teachers’ and children’s feelings of inadequacy. Without downplaying the catastrophe of Covid-19—like everyone else, students far and wide have suffered profound losses—we nevertheless question whether this current preoccupation with their academic loss is well-founded. How do we know that most children are collectively suffering from a significant cognitive lag? Do many of the metrics we use to measure achievement even work?
As instructional coaches and curriculum developers who support both teachers and students in schools around the country, we’ve had unique portals into this unprecedented school year. In our view, the emphasis on learning loss risks overshadowing the invaluable—if counterintuitive—learning gains of both teachers and students throughout the past year. The pandemic upset nearly every plan and routine, yet in many classrooms, this painful shake-up set the stage for tremendous innovation and creativity.
FINDING A POWERFUL MESSAGE THROUGH POETRY
Curious to record the learning we were witnessing, we launched the Things I Learned This Year poetry initiative: We asked teachers and students to jot down what they discovered during the last year, and we wove their contributions into two shared list poems. Here is what educators shared:
“Things I Learned This Year”
by K–12 Educators
That a child’s social and emotional well-being always comes first.
That keeping things fun is more important than ever.
That children are fully capable of learning on their own.
That their hidden curriculum should come out of hiding.
That releasing myself from perfection helps my students do the same.
That I need to slow down, talk less, listen more.
That it’s OK to let go of tradition in favor of new things.
That I can’t validate students’ emotions too much or too often.
That the outdoors isn’t just for recess—so much learning and growth can happen there.
That kids mimic the anxiety of adults around them.
That classroom community is everything.
That whatever engages my students at the moment is what I should be doing.
That tuning in and being present beats checking things off my list.
As children struggled to manage anxiety this year, educators realized that connection, community, and engagement weren’t just nice-to-haves, but prerequisites to meaningful learning. This truth became impossible to ignore as frustrated or disengaged kids simply wandered away from their computers in favor of more interesting endeavors—a perk, at least from the children’s perspective, of not being trapped in physical classrooms.
Many teachers responded to the loss of their captive audience by prioritizing student engagement over sticking to the plan. They wove children’s unique interests, strengths, and needs into lesson plans. One teacher asked a particularly active group of kids to choreograph silly movement breaks. Another developed writing lesson around positive-self talk and mindfulness. A third educator asked each child to teach the class about a topic they cared deeply about, regardless of whether that topic was one the class would have covered in a typical year. In short, these teachers taught the kids, not only the curriculum.
Educators also evaluated their self-worth in brand-new ways. “Did I have a good day because I followed my plan and the kids complied?” morphed into “Did I have a good day because I listened to kids, met them where they were, and facilitated moments of joyful learning?” This shift is clear again, and one that educators want to hold on to far beyond this school year.
