Today McNeely students learned who their 2018 - 2019 teacher would be. No doubt about it - there was some anxiety and trepidation!
Even our teachers were nervous: Will my new students like me? Will parents be happy? Will I be able to meet the needs of all of my learners?
Our students also felt anxious: Will I have friends in my class? Will I fit in? Will it be too hard/too easy? Will my teacher like me? If I am staying with my teacher for a second year, does that mean I failed? (No, it means your teacher loves you, and believes that he or she has more learning to share with you.)
Parents felt anxious, too: Will my child be happy? Will my child be challenged? Will my child be supported?
Change is hard. More and more, I wonder why, in Canadian public education, we are still following the agricultural calendar that has determined school schedules for over 150 years. We spend all of June winding the whole thing down, only to spend much of September winding it all up again.
I dream of a day when schools can be more flexible, responsive, practical for families, with reasonable breaks in the school year, without the learning loss that results from the eight weeks off.
Every single McNeely teacher has gifts to share with every child in our school. We are lucky. All of our students are cared for, loved, celebrated for their talents and supported in areas in which they need to grow. I hope our families feel the same confidence as I do - in our ability to provide a strong foundation of learning, an emphasis on social/emotional development, and a desire to foster the characteristics of global citizenship.
We are all Mustangs.
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