Week 7 Term 2 - Checking in

When my students don't meet the deadline, I react. When our plans do not go the way we hope for them to go, we react - whether it is anger or frustration - we tend to react in a negative way when we are thrown off guard. It is not a bad thing, it is human nature. We react. Don't we all? Reviewing the Year 13 NCEA Data over the last couple of weeks, it is apparent that the lack of meeting deadlines is not just something that I am experiencing in my class. The data from June 11 highlights that a large percentage of students in Year 13 are sitting on 0 credits across all 5 subject lines. My reaction to this - what is going on, how do I respond? Coinciding with the data, is the feedback that teachers and deans have received from Year 13 students who have expressed that they are stressed and overwhelmed at school. My reaction - what is going on, how do I respond?

How you respond to a challenge or a crisis is important. I understood that my response, reaction and approach with to the data and the feedback needed to be different. Typically when things do not go to plan for me, I stress (internally) and internally build up the stress and anxiety that I have. Eventually that this cannot be contained and I react - or overreact - to whatever is going on. When the students miss deadlines and submit incomplete assessments I get angry and petty. I understand that the students find it hard to deal with me once it gets to this point. So with the condition of the Year 13 student's well-being and learning, I have to respond differently in order to get the best outcome for the student. 

The Whanau Deans met with our Executive Dean and discussed the issue. We decided that our first response is to meet with the Year 13 students in our respective House groups and check in with them. How we did this was completely up to us but we knew that we wanted and needed to check in with them and get an understanding of where they are at with their stress, on a personal level. On June 14 I met with my Year 13 students in Totara House. I explained the WHY first and foremost - why are we meeting and showed them the data as way to show them the reality of their learning journey. From here we had a discussion about WHY this is going on and some of the students shared their experiences on how their learning is going and WHY they are in this situation where their credits are suffering. I then handed out a questionnaire that I wanted the students to fill out. The questionnaire focused on stress and the students were given the option to label it or leave as anonymous. Here are the questions that I shared with the students. 

• How stressed do you feel on a daily basis?
• What are the causes of stress in your life?
• Describe in your own words how you experience stress?
• What are the usual behavioral effects of stress you have noticed in yourself?
• What are the usual emotional effects of stress you have noticed in yourself?
• What are the usual physical effects of stress you have noticed in yourself?
• What are your personal methods in relieving stress?
• How are you able to handle stress?
• What is the most stressful thing you are experiencing at school/in class?
• What will help you get through this stress in class?

Here is a summary of the feedback that the students shared. 

The feedback is real, it is raw, it is confronting and it is unapologetically true. The next step from here is crucial. It is important that the response from myself, colleagues and team is appropriate. I have shared this information with the Totara House Mentors who appreciated the feedback. For some it was confronting in the sense that they did not understand the depth of their student's stress. Some of the suggestions from the team were to continue the conversation with the students and specifically ask them "what can we do to help you better?" I really like the Priority Matrix that was suggested from another whanau group. I am going to trial this with my Year 12 students when I check in with them on Monday. 

I will also get my Year 13 students and mentors to work on this during their mentoring session next week. 

Checking in with your students, with your family, with your friends, with your colleagues, with yourself is important. Sometimes we can get caught up in 'who we want to be' or 'who they want us to be' and forget about 'who I am' and 'what makes me - me'. Singer and author Michelle Williams writes "We need to pay attention to how we're defining who we are' - it is important that in this whole process of checking in with my students that there is a focus on the fact that they are in a process - in the making and becoming of who they are and who they want to be. I look forward to continuing this journey in checking in and finding great solutions for the students.