Teresa Thayer Snyder was superintendent of the Voorheesville district in upstate New York. She wrote this wise and insightful essay on her Facebook page. A friend sent it to me.
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
I am writing today about the children of this pandemic. After a lifetime of working among the young, I feel compelled to address the concerns that are being expressed by so many of my peers about the deficits the children will demonstrate when they finally return to school. My goodness, what a disconcerting thing to be concerned about in the face of a pandemic which is affecting millions of people around the country and the world. It speaks to one of my biggest fears for the children when they return. In our determination to “catch them up,” I fear that we will lose who they are and what they have learned during this unprecedented era. What on earth are we trying to catch them up on? The models no longer apply, the benchmarks are no longer valid, the trend analyses have been interrupted. We must not forget that those arbitrary measures were established by people, not ordained by God. We can make those invalid measures as obsolete as a crank up telephone! They simply do not apply.
When the children return to school, they will have returned with a new history that we will need to help them identify and make sense of. When the children return to school, we will need to listen to them. Let their stories be told. They have endured a year that has no parallel in modern times. There is no assessment that applies to who they are or what they have learned. Remember, their brains did not go into hibernation during this year. Their brains may not have been focused on traditional school material, but they did not stop either. Their brains may have been focused on where their next meal is coming from, or how to care for a younger sibling, or how to deal with missing grandma, or how it feels to have to surrender a beloved pet, or how to deal with death. Our job is to welcome them back and help them write that history.
I sincerely plead with my colleagues, to surrender the artificial constructs that measure achievement and greet the children where they are, not where we think they “should be.” Greet them with art supplies and writing materials, and music and dance and so many other avenues to help them express what has happened to them in their lives during this horrific year. Greet them with stories and books that will help them make sense of an upside-down world. They missed you. They did not miss the test prep. They did not miss the worksheets. They did not miss the reading groups. They did not miss the homework. They missed you.
Resist the pressure from whatever ‘powers that be’ who are in a hurry to “fix” kids and make up for the “lost” time. The time was not lost, it was invested in surviving an historic period of time in their lives—in our lives. The children do not need to be fixed. They are not broken. They need to be heard. They need be given as many tools as we can provide to nurture resilience and help them adjust to a post pandemic world.
Being a teacher is an essential connection between what is and what can be. Please, let what can be demonstrate that our children have so much to share about the world they live in and in helping them make sense of what, for all of us has been unimaginable. This will help them– and us– achieve a lot more than can be measured by any assessment tool ever devised. Peace to all who work with the children!
SHAME on our elite politicians for placing our children in this irreparable, and most vulnerable position. It is amazing how California’s governor can sleep through the night as suicide rates continue to rise exponentially among our youth.
Data please? I mean data not anecdotes.
Is there a link that supports your statement? I mean a factual link that is not someone pointing to another statement like this?
I have seen data from the US government excess mortality numbers that states that Covid19 deaths in young adults has displaced deaths to overdoses accidental and on-purpose. In other words, causes of deaths from Covid19 are now the largest category in young adults taking over from drug ODs, etc. Pretty worrisome. Why don’t you support your statement?
Of course, as this is an ongoing situation, data is still being collected but a June 2020 CDC survey shows suicidal ideation up to 1 in 4 in teens when it previously sat at around 10 percent in 2018. This is a 15 percent rise.
This is quite a large leap when compared to the overall population that saw only about a 5 percent increase from 2018 to June 2020 (from 5 to 10 percent).
There is also great fear that this increase in suicidal ideation will have a continued effect on the mental health of teens even when the the pandemic and lockdowns are over. This is once again something that we need to continue collecting data on and better help students to cope with how the world has changed.
It would also be great if you could provide the data/studies that you stated since you seemed to not be able to do the one thing you were asking for and I’ve heard the opposite about overdoses!
YES!!!!!!!
Completely agree with your statement. Many of our politicians knew when applying these restrictions they were harmful but none requested scientific proof, moving on models of information and video only. When models were proven wrong they did not adjust instead they increased measures based on theatrical hype. Cases do not mean death. How those cases are determined also proven unreliable with investigation. Our children and elderly the most vulnerable.
Most definitely agree with the blog author. We must throw away or adjust our learning center expectations to better reflect the experience the world, and in turn each individual who has suffered. All have experienced an assault on our mental health, with the original shock, followed by repetitive conditioning. Tactics well known in the psychological journals to inflict damage and change thinking patterns. Our children certainly need more love, understanding and outlet than ever before. I’m hoping many are not sent outside the family for help and possibly end up on medication because of this time. I’m also hoping history will be written with truth and time will heal, for all to see.
Thank you for sharing. I will share the letter
also.
This is the best advice regarding our impending return to brick and mortar education. Spot on. ..thoughtful…insightful!
I would agree. The Board of Education should focus on what is most important so that the kids can have time to readjust to school life. Maybe teachers can sit down with their students each day to talk about what was most important to them during Covid home schooling. I wonder how it would play out if the teachers gave the students a list of what needed to studied per quarter, and let the children decide the order in which it is to be studied.
A hundred years ago, children were regularly had to deal with hardships at home and in life. Some would only go to school certain months because they were needed to help family with growing food and caring for farm animals and their younger siblings. They still learned. Family, community, and friends were of vital importance for their learning. They still are.
I too will be glad when we can say hi to our friends in person and give them a hug!
[…] Teresa Thayer Snyder: What Shall We Do About the Children After the Pandemic […]
So thoughtful.Letting each child express their own life experiences, in a way they feel comfortable either through art, music, stories, poem or dance ….rather than imposing structure and course outlines that have nothing to do with the turmoil that was the last year of their young lives.Soothing the soul will expand the mind.
Well,consider this: kids might actually have something to say! It would be the time to give them opportunities to say whatever they want to and thereby exercise the use of their thinking and writing and communication skills. Classes or schools can make books from the kids’ writings which will bring them to others.
This is a very valid and profound statement and I hope that the powers that be can read this message and let teachers do what they do best.
I agree with all that was shared. We have in the past used artificial and expedient measures
P to ascertain the extent of the learning of children . The “ full in the bubble” test does not reflect the extent of their understanding and ability to solve problems . Stepping back from those artificial
measures will allow for their conceptual knowledge , skills and attributes and values to
surface and for teaching and learning to resume. Real knowledge , skills and values can now be addressed in a more realistic and meaningful manner. Let’s move forward with the true fundamentals that will assist with the kind of critical thinking and problem solving needed in the future for them and society !
So wonderfully stated!! When I know so many teachers are caught up with “how do we catch the kids up” this lets them know that, as teachers, they are more than the purveyors of information.
Thank you so much for sharing, being real, advocating for being positive and appreciative for all that our students and educators have experienced.
Thank you! I have not been able to verbalize my thoughts and feelings yet. You did it for me. I feel as though, now more than ever, we need to really listen to students, and try to discover what would serve them best in this time of world reconfiguration. I don’t want to feel confined by our standards and evaluations. I want to invest all my time and energy in them, because they need, and want, it so very much!
Thank you for validating what so many have missed. We are hear to serve the students, and their families, not our education system.
Well said! This should be our mantra all the time as educators-to meet children where they are and to then help them grow to their fullest potential. Instead, we keep trying to stuff people into boxes, testing them like they are rats to see what they know, rather than just merely watching, observing, and listening to all the wonderful ideas and thoughts and movements they make. I think we all know our standards have not really proven anything! We have children who still graduate without being able to read, we have children dying from hunger, we have children who live in the streets, we have so many reaching out for help before they decide to take their own life because they didn’t measure up, yet we continue to test, test, test and hope that it tells us something. We start from birth measuring them up to others and then talk about their deficits rather than their strengths. We talk about preparing them for school. I just want to say it should be the other way around. In this past year, I know children who have to solve many problems, figure many things out, deal with loss of a loved one, and still we don’t see or hear them. Children have 100 languages as Loris Malaguzzi would say we just need to stop and listen. We need to validate children as human beings with something to give. Thank you for this article. Now let’s hope someone is really listening to you!
Amen to everything you said!
Our educational problems were around before the pandemic, the pandemic has only enlightened the problem. In education we teach to the top percent as if all will go to college. We need to understand students learn from books, hearing and hands. A non traditional student has an awful time sitting in class and the distance learning has made the gap widen. Ms. Snyder is spot on that we need the students to be who they are so they can flourish.
Yes, but no. Absolutely right and yet those measures are there in part to make sure that schools, administrators, teachers and systems don’t let marginalized students become second priority to …everything else, including surviving a pandemic. I don’t have a solution, but as a 2 decade high school teacher I’m sure it’s not “just let them be”. Students have experienced something no adult alive can “expertly guide them through” because we are no experts here either. We are truly navigating this as a planet, but we do know that tell them their education is not relevant won’t help them either. Yes, let testing and metrics take a back seat, but don’t turn education into therapy or babysitting. Create a world where students have access to shelter, food, safety- spiritual and emotional support- and education. School never will be the solution to everything, and maybe we should just allow students to not attend school this year. Let them be with their families. Let the other social supports step in.
I was so pleased to see this letter.
I always fear that in the push for excellence on tests we leave so many children in the dust
Behind the others and then find or create a new label for them that makes it ok.
As a middle school math teacher I am always focused on how far we make it through the series of skills that prepare my students for next year’s math class. So I am torn a bit between pushing through those skills and giving the time needed for my remote classes to connect with me and with each other. Certainly we do some math each class, but much of the time is spent simply being human and social. I have been inspired to find better ways to communicate and provide context for concepts in order to better provide the time to share the difficulty of being adolescents, especially in this strange circumstance.
[…] Teresa Thayer Snyder: What Shall We Do About the Children After the Pandemic […]
Absolute drivel through and through. Nonsense that ignores the real harm being done to children by lack of proper schooling. A ridiculous romanticizing of a serious problem.
[…] of radical voice in education (who I also think is pretty awesome), shared the text of a terrific Facebook Post from a former upstate New York superintendent who wrote what she thinks educators should do once […]
Could not agree more!
The terrain has shifted, to serve these young people will require new insights, intuitions and a quantum reevaluation in how young people learn, and what our teachers and academic institutions are striving to instill in them as they prepare them for an uncharted future.
Dr. Ravitch, I have read your book, Reign of Error, and followed your blog for years. Thank you for advocating for teachers and empowering each of us to fight nobly for access to high quality education for all. After reading this letter, I wrote a blog of my own as a response. This issue of testing in a pandemic needs to be addressed again and again. I hope you will take the time to read and share if you would like. Maybe with enough voices chanting the same message someone will finally listen.Thank you again for forging the way for teachers. Here is the link.
https://coachpbell.wixsite.com/website/post/day-71-withering-on-the-vine
I liked the article. I wanted to comment on the brokenness. We are all broken. What do we do with the brokenness is the question. In spite, of the pandemic and our personal circumstances- we need to reach out to the children and let them know that they are precious and their lives matter. No matter the race or the color of their skin. There is a saying that justice is blind. I like to think that love is blind. As educators, let us be the model for the children of today! Because they are the children of the future. It would be a beautiful scene to see teachers welcoming every child back to school. It would be even more beautiful to see teachers blind folded from different races and welcoming children opposite of our race. To be committed to that child. To be an encourager, an helper and to help that child to thrive during the school year. Let us be accountable for our actions and let us convey and display the warmest and kindness from our hearts to children.
Beautiful love. Our children’s story for God’s glory. Hold onto the hope found in Jesus alone as he writes our children’s testimony. They are so loved. They are so precious in his sight. Always be ready to listen with an open heart and prayers for directions from God to help them.
Yes. I completely agree. And I feel that the SOLs should NOT even be attempted…yet they’re doing it anyway. Ugh. }:( Totally ridiculous and unnecessary. My oldest isn’t doing too bad but my youngest is struggling oh so much. He struggles with ADHD, autism, apraxia, and depression, which has only worsened since this mess started. And the schools don’t really grasp the difficulties we parents are facing every day with our challenged children. As hard as this situation is on neurotypical children, it’s ten times worse for children with 504s and IEPs. Many of the teachers still don’t “get it” or want to, and those that do are hampered by the system that wants to insist on “business as usual”. Blecch.
I totally agree
I love this article! I feel the same way. You’re thoughts are so true and I agree 100%!!!!
This is the wisest essay ever written and applies no matter what the year .
Listen and love each and every child to bring peace and love to them and their world.
Teachers would gladly surrender the artificial constructs that measure children, but we can’t. We are still being held to them. Measured by our data point on a graph rather than the relationships we build or the community we foster, or the kids we help feel safe or the box of crayons we slip in a backpack .
Do you think transmitting knowledge has any place in education?
I couldn’t agree with this more! Thank you for sharing this. I just hope that this article gets around like this virus has. We really need to applaud our children for being self sufficient, self motivated in the remote learning days and help them process what they have been through. Please teachers and districts, don’t go crazy on our kids. Please. They need socializing the absolute most and a new creative way to help them process all of this. THANK YOU and please be safe. 🙏
Thanks for posting a necessary conversation.
Sally,
Teresa Thayer Snyder’s post has received an amazing reception. It went viral. It is close to 500,000 views.
This is such an important discussion. The children returning to school will need the educators to help them back into a world where they are once again socializing and let them become comfortable with being able to play and express themselves. The curriculm is not important when they return but regaining confidence, trust, communication and general well being is. This challenging return needs imput from those who know children the best and will require flexibility as one size will nit fit all. The leaders in education would be well advised to go slowly and listen to teachers about what is needed and to give time for healing.
Profound
Wow! I am a Primary Yeacher in Scotland and this too has been my biggest fear upon rerurning to school. There is no ‘catching up’ to be done because they are not ‘behind’. They are exactly where they are, and we as a society need to accept that and deal with it. Thank you so much for sharing. ❤❤❤
I just hope the same group of people who designed NCLB and RttT don’t design the pandemic response.
Please, please, please – people from outside the ed reform echo chamber. There must be people who value public schools and public school students we can hire. Find the people who have been shut out for the last 20 years and let them weigh in.
If we hire the same group of consultants and lobbyists and university think tanks we are going to get the same policy. Finally, at long last, give us a break from Walton Foundation policy and practice. Allow someone else to speak.
The children have experienced and seen things other generations may have not. They may have resources and skills for survival within themselves. Yes, they need to be heard but many have the ability to adapt. It has been the most unusual time. Hopefully, in time, we will have a new normal. Children grow at different rates intellectually, physcologically, emotionally and socially . Hopefully, they evenualy will catch up with the many adults and parents in their lives who help them.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I agree. I hope your article is spread far and wide.
You are a brilliant & beautiful person! I sincerely hope your words are heard by all those who need to hear them. This certainly has been a unique time for our children and their learning.