For this audit, I interviewed a fellow teacher who, after teaching out-of-country and earning his administrative certificate, returned to the district, and has served as an assistant principal for the past two years. It was interesting to see him in this role and talk to him about more than curriculum and students but building policies and systems.
In my interview, the direction of the questions did not go as planned, but they did offer insight into my main objective which is centered around ISTE Standard 7b, “Partner with educators, leaders, students, and families to foster a culture of respectful online interactions and a healthy balance in their use of technology.” For much of my interview, we discussed areas that are anchored on SEL, self-care, and balance.
VALUE: SUPPORT
7a ~ Inspire and encourage educators and students to use technology for civic engagement and to address challenges to improve their communities.
How does XXXXX High School introduce service through technology? Both community and globally? Helping others helps ourselves and builds confidence, self-worth, and compassion. All these attributes contribute to strong social and emotional health.
We discussed the clubs at XHS and how they are running virtually. The clubs that we are conducting that reach out to our community and globally are
- ATHLETES FOR KIDS (one-on-one mentorships with students with disabilities);
- GIRL UP (a mentorship program for young girls);
- GSA (a support group for students in the LGBTQ community);
- LEAP Club (students working together with our LRC1 & LRC2 student community);
- LINK CREW (upperclassmen mentoring incoming freshmen);
- NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY (community hours and peer-to-peer academic tutoring);
- Saving Overwhelmed Students, aka SOS (discussion-based support of social issues); and
- Students Affirming Gender Equality, aka SAGE (activism and social issue supports).
Through these clubs, we have many students working on serving fellow classmates, the community, and fundraising for national and global issues.
VALUES: BALANCE & SUPPORT
7b ~ Partner with educators, leaders, students, and families to foster a culture of respectful online interactions and a healthy balance in their use of technology.
Question: Does XXXXX High School’s SEL Curriculum address safety regarding navigating technology as well as balancing time between on and off screens? With so many hours spent in front of a screen, how can we ensure students’ social and emotional needs are being met?
In our interview, Will mentioned that intentionality and being proactive is what the administration is trying to instill into the teachers and students. One way is recognizing that not everyone will create balance the same way. Some teachers may quickly disengage from Zoom and their job at the end of contract time but spend a good portion of the weekend planning and grading; while other teachers, who like to keep their weekends free, may choose to work late into the evening. Recently our administration gave us “permission” to walk away from work for an entire weekend to create a definitive break from emails and online curriculum demands. For some of us, this would not instill peace in my life as I enjoy spending time preparing for the week on a Sunday afternoon.
The schedule that our district created is also giving students and staff a time to create balance. While Wednesdays are still contract days, teachers have time to meet with fellow teachers or support students. Students have the day away from classes other than a planned SEL period for 30 minutes in the morning. While this does not give us an entire workday away from the screen, it allows teachers to disengage with their students and continuous Zoom classes.
Celebrating successes and good news is also a way our administration is helping the staff and students focus on what is positive instead dwelling on the negative and unknown.
Question: How can educators instill that it is safe to fail or falter for high-achieving students?
Finding the balance between creating opportunities for high-achieving students to find grace in themselves to accept where they are and causing more stress because they are not receiving the same high marks as they did before the Pandemic closures is difficult. One most day they seem to accept their standing in the class regarding their grades and understandings. Yet, I still receive emails from students who are struggling with the basics of dealing with stress and disappointment.
In the interview, Will mentioned how he and his administrators are working to develop SEL lessons on how to educate students on coping strategies for stress and how to be realistic in their expectations. Will acknowledges that, “a building like ours, [is] a building full of really high achieving students and talented staff that has incredibly high expectations for themselves and for their students. And there’s almost a competition in this fear of failure that is made worse in the online world because you don’t have those kind of spontaneous moments with staff and with students that kind of like fill your cup back up in a way.” He realizes that we need to “try to be more flexible and trying to be to be okay with saying, ‘You know what, this isn’t going well let’s readjust.’” And how important it is to then model that for the kids like the administration is modeling it for teachers, “it’s got to be on every level.” Having “that ability to say, like, hey, I messed up. I’m sorry. Let’s work together and solve this problem.”
VALUE: SAFETY
Question: Does XXXXX High School have a cyberbullying protocol? How is it implemented? Is the educator involved, or is handled at the administrator level only? Knowing how to walk away from belittling and causing harm is a step towards self-worth which again is a characteristic of strong social and emotional well-being.
“If a student feels that he or she is being harassed, intimidated, or bullied for any reason including because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, the student should immediately report such incidents to a teacher, counselor, or building administrator. A complete copy of Regulation 3207 may be obtained at any school or on the district website.
With [the regulations], we ask teachers to verbally report any suspicions/allegations to the student’s administrator. From there, the administrative team conducts an investigation that includes taking statements from all students/staff/families involved. The investigation would determine appropriate next steps for the students involved, including if the allegation hit the threshold for being considered HIB.”
7c ~ Support educators and students to critically exam the sources of online media and identify underlying assumptions.
Question: Is XXXXX High School equipping educators to create a safe learning environment that negates stereotypes and biases?
Our district worked together with groups of Humanities teachers to create a presentation that addressed the Black Lives Movement and implicit biases. This lesson was presented to every student in an English class in our district on the same day. Thankfully, it was received well by most of our community; however, there was a small, loud, minority that reached out with concerns about the content. I believe the presentation was necessary because of the backlash and am glad for the follow-up conversations that have happened because of it.
7d ~ Empower educators, leaders, and students to make informed decisions to protect their personal data and curate digital profile they intent to reflect.
Question: Do we have plans to implement regular programs to educate students on digital citizenship? Creating strong digital citizenship curriculum is necessary for keeping students informed regarding their digital footprint. Our ASB Leadership Team has taken it upon itself to educate the student body through lessons during our SEL advisory periods. They presented our first lesson at the beginning of October which covered the importance of making smart decisions while using social media and how each decision makes an impact.