Lately, I am hearing from teachers more and more that their students are “checked out”. They are not receiving responses to emails, or phone calls are not being answered. I too have experienced this as I contact families to offer resources such as food services, etc. This COVID-19 school closures has just been am upsetting and very frustrating end to the school year.

However, I have also had the opportunity to visit with some parents as well. They too are feeling frustrated with the end of the year. Parents are having trouble getting their students to do the work that teachers have assigned, parents are tired of getting multiple phone calls from different staff members and parents are overwhelmed with trying to teach their children things like “common core math” while also trying to run their household during a quarantine. There is no doubt this situation is frustrating for everyone involved in education.

Motivating students is a HARD job. The thing is, parents motivate their children for different reasons and they use different tools than a teacher trying to motivate their student might use. Parents are not usually motivating students to complete work or reach academic goals. Don’t get me wrong, YES, parents set the generalized expectation that they want good grades and strong academic progress… But teachers are pushing for more specific targets & goals and they motivate students along the way to help them achieve that goal. It is no surprise that this is a struggle for parents. That does NOT mean you are failing as a parent – in fact, quite the opposite, you are probably the most unsung heroes of this pandemic! You are home, rocking that quarantine life: you’ve gone from being parent to becoming a home school teacher, principal, full-time chef, housekeeper, budget/finance analyst & manager, and from time to time you are probably a referee too! We know that you have many hats you are having to wear right now and we can see that you are doing the best you can.

But when it comes to motivation for academics, teachers really have a few tricks up their sleeve for this. Unfortunately, with all this distance learning we are unable to make that happen for our students. However, in my years as a classroom teacher and now school counselor the one thing that I have found that is the most effective is relationships and conversation. Students just want things to be explained well, and they want to be respected. It really comes down to students just needing to be reminded that they are still responsible for their academics during this time, and if they are not willing to do that, then they are also responsible for any consequences that may also arise.

I make that sound more easy peasy than it actually is. Instead, I have built a Distance Learning Lesson that presents this information to students in a more fun and engaging way.

In this activity I have included a directed drawing (of a Cactus), a GOOGLE slides presentation and a sample of my best-selling product: Would You Rather Question Cards.

This lesson is READY to go. It isn’t grade specific, and can work with just about any grade. The art element keeps students engaged. There is also a “check your understanding” slide for feedback so that you know if students understood the lesson. I did this lesson last week with one group and I am looking forward to doing it again this week with a different group.

Parents and educators – you are both doing an amazing job through these trying times. Remain resilient! Live like a cactus: patient through the dry spells and wait for your time to bloom. 🙂 Better days are coming!