Helping Students Find Purpose...because the times are always "uncertain"

     In these challenge-free times of certainty… I don’t recall ever reading anything like that in 2019, 2013 or any other 20XX or 19XX year. Since we are all experiencing something together--alone or alone--together, identifying these pandemic times as troubling or uncertain is not wrong. But, did we ever have “untrying times?”  Language isn’t perfect, https://www.dictionary.com/e/pandemic-words-people-hate/ but it’s a start.    

Photo by Marco Verch on Flikr, human-hand-writing-class-of-2020-on-whiteboard

     The loss of normalcy during this Covid-19 period has upended the lives of the high school Class of 2020. Hoping to raise the spirits and celebrate their graduation, I have been creating personalized videos of each 2020 senior that I taught in high school. I taught a Jr ROTC class and captured four years of their weekend events, parent chaperones, flag detail, physical fitness days, classroom shots, and the fun & games. Google Photos facial recognition makes it easy--every photo is right there for you to put in your video, add music, and hit submit for instant happiness. Google Photos to video--a quick explanation: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/google-photos-movie-editor-tips/.

Google Photos Facial Recognition Folder

    As I look back fondly    https://youtu.be/vXSS4YIeZz8 at my photos of those years, I see some of the hundreds of 13-18-year-olds I worked with and started thinking about how challenging high school can be. Words like “Resilience,” “Grit” and yes, “Kindness” are posted all over campuses for a reason. As a teacher, I found myself asking “in-tune” fellow teachers about how to assist teens struggling with…all of it. Bullying, cyber-bullying, depression, anxiety and so much more. I constantly stopped by the School Psychologist’s office and tried to gain some expertise and find some clues. 

     As all new, unprepared, pandemic homeschool parent-teachers now know--teaching is hard.  The Peace Corps created the ad line of “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” The Coast Guard had, “jobs that matter.” Both apply very well to teaching high school. Since teaching is tough and matters so much, educators need to tap into people and organizations that can support them too. One organization that is helping students feel like they belong and find a way to “step into life with purpose” is Project Wayfinder  https://www.projectwayfinder.com/

  

Project Wayfinder Instagram Post

    Partnering with schools, Project Wayfinder helps teachers and students find purpose in what and how they learn and find their way through life. Dr. Bill Damon, from the Stanford School of Adolescent Development, defines their purpose-focused approach as “A stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at the same time meaningful to the self and consequential for the world beyond the self.”  Project Wayfinder is based in Berkeley, California. An excellent overview of their approach to helping students find purpose is here: https://educationpost.org/the-biggest-problem-for-kids-today-isnt-stress-its-lack-of-purpose/

      Project Wayfinder also focuses on mental health as part of its mission. Reviewing the thousands of photos from my time in the classroom reminded me of the large number of students who received counseling, but also of the even greater number of students who needed more support but did not always get it. The need is immense.

      Another resource is Wil Cason. Wil is a Student Success Coach at a Middle School in the San Francisco Bay area https://www.instagram.com/wilcason 

Wil Cason at Fairfield High, Fairfield, CA

 As a professional speaker, Wil has worked with teens and educators for more than two decades, focusing on personal productivity, goal setting, and motivation. Lately, he has shifted his approach to social and emotional learning and uses his skills as a Mental Health First Aid Instructor. Several of my former high school students recently joined Wil’s Instagram Live seminar on “tips for students to survive & thrive in uncertain times” (IG Live, Wednesdays at 4pm PST, @WilCason). There is that word again, “uncertainty.” Wil gave some “do now” techniques to help students be mindful, grateful, and focused on their physical and mental health. He also provided some academic action steps to keep students focused on their long game. 

     When Wil asked audience members for the following week’s topic, more than one student expressed the need to talk about their feelings of losing so much. They understand that the loss of life across the country and planet is sobering. But they feel a different kind of loss, even if it is not as horrific. Losing graduation, losing time with their friends, losing time with caring adults at their schools are weighing heavily on them. All of us should be asking them about these thoughts and helping them find their path through these “uncertain times.”

       Rallying around our students is more important than ever. Research. Reach out. Zoom-ing and Google Meet-ing teachers-- don’t forget to take screenshots (if agreed to) and later on, more photos. We all need to celebrate each other more and capture that magic. We now know that yesterday’s “ordinary” was actually extraordinary. Ordinary has never sounded (and looked) so good.