Back to School Musings from a Sensitive Educator
Returning to one hundred percent, in-person school for the first time since the start of the pandemic marks another milestone for me in this post-covid reality. To be back in school full-force feels exciting and exhausting all at the same time. The energy expenditure is real, and I had forgotten just how much physical, mental and emotional energy is demanded of this job. I do feel inspired to be back in the classroom and grateful to no longer have to divide my attention between a handful of kids in front of me, and those sitting at home, hiding behind their Naruto and Dragon Ball Z profile pictures on a Google Meet. But, for a highly sensitive and introverted empath such as myself, bigger classes and more bodies= more energy depletion. Not to mention the immense pressure from the powers that be to hit the ground running in order to close learning gaps and make up for lost time.
Furthermore, if we, as adults, are feeling the weariness of this transition, the kids are too. I strongly believe the majority of my students are just as sensitive and empathic (if not more), so imagine all these little sponges sitting in front of you, soaking up all the uncertainty, fear, and nervous energy not only in the school building, but in the world. Add social media to the mix and it’s almost like there is no unplugging from this collective energy. They (as we are too) are always tapped in, resulting in a myriad of mental, emotional and spiritual issues. Therefore, I feel, as sensitives, as healers and lightworkers in the classroom, we have a responsibility to help lighten the load and provide a refuge for our student counter-parts.
During the first week, I noticed many students presented with a spaciness I hadn’t really seen before. It was like they were here but not fully present. My trusty, “turn-and talk” strategy failed miserably as many pairs sat in awkward silence. Instead, I had to teach some basic social skills like how to introduce yourself and make small talk. I had to model this, genuinely, and made it a point to have at least one personal interaction with each one of my new students.
Many of my classes felt unusually tense, and I could feel we were all sizing each other up: they- me, me -them, they- each other. Of course some of this is a natural occurrence in a middle school during the first week of school, but there was a different, new layer added in and it was palpable. I responded with gentleness, humor and of course, empathy.
As a sensitive I feel like I have an advantage because I’m able to tune in and read the energy of a class. It informs my instruction and delivery. I know exactly how much to push and when to pull back. However, I’m admittedly a bit self-conscious because I feel some colleagues might view me as a push-over, or accuse me of not having high expectations, when in fact I’m building trust and an unbreakable classroom culture. I think most can agree that the culture piece is paramount and precedes academics.
If you are a sensitive educator, trust yourself. Trust your gifts. Trust that by just showing up fully, as yourself, you are already offering so much medicine and wisdom to the students lucky enough to be in your class. All the pressure and urgency laid out by administration must fall to the periphery if you are to do right by your students. Remember that.
