Equity and Diversity Newsletter
Elementary Edition September 2020
Helping your Students Prepare for the 2020-2021 School Year
This 2020-2021 school year is shaping up to be unlike any before. As students, parents, teachers, and schools approach the start of a new school year, there are still many questions about exactly what school might look like in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many questions about school reopening, many parents and teachers don’t know how to prepare their students for the upcoming year. For guidance, we turned to Erica Lee and Heather Potts, psychologists in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Heather Potts suggests that we need to help our students understand that while there might be a plan for going back to school, that plan may not happen accordingly and we must be flexible. While we might expect and really hope for one thing, such as going back to their classroom, it might not happen like that and that’s okay.
Erica Lee says dealing with uncertainty is stressful for everyone. But research shows that fighting uncertainty can be worse. He recommends that we teach our students to be able to accept situations as they come which allows them to accept the emotions that come with those situations and to learn positive coping skills. Remember that it is okay to be a realist with your students. Most importantly you can help them focus on what is important and things they can control such as wearing a mask correctly and proper handwashing instead of all the things they cannot do.
For your students that are returning to school help them think about the positives of coming back instead of the negatives especially if they are feeling anxious. Talk to them about the excitement of seeing their teachers and friends again. And for those that are virtual make sure you help their parents understand the necessity of building-in positive activities, such as having some time together or being able to take a lunch break and some fun outdoor activities if the weather permits.
We are living in uncertain times and focusing on the positive aspect of any situation is a good way to deal with stress. If you find that your students are struggling academically be flexible and forgiving with them and yourself for this is a new endeavor for many teachers, parents, and students. Advise your students and parents not to hesitate to get the assistants they need. Help them learn how to structure their time, make to-do lists, break down tasks, get their work in on time, and communicate with their teachers if they are having a difficult time in any area.
Most importantly remember that children are usually resilient by nature but as educators, you can model that resilience for them. Keep it positive for them and let them know if anything changes we will work it out as a team and we will come up with a new plan together. COVID-19 has presented us with many challenges but as we focus on the positive it has taught both young and old important life skills and we are rising as a Nation and a school district to the occasion.
Greenlaw, Ellen. “Preparing Your Kids for the New School Year during COVID-19.” Boston Children's Discoveries, 7 Aug. 2020, discoveries.childrenshospital.org/preparing-kids-school-covid-19/.
What's In Your Tool Box?
Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful, it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful, it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident, it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.
King Whitney Jr
Keeping Optimism and Hope Alive
As we start this school year we must be aware as educators of our need to stay encouraged and mentally healthy. We know that being a positive teacher is not always an easy task. Especially when you are always met with problems that seem to have very limited solutions. However, staying positive has a tremendous impact on your students and everyone else around you. Edutopia has shared a shortlist of advice on how to preserve happiness even in these difficult times.
Pinpoint what you love about education and live in it. For example, making students feel welcomed, cared for, and loved.
Find others who can offer solutions, not just an ear. We need people who will listen when we are down and motivate us to think in new, innovative ways.
Pick and choose the news you read and listen to. Ask yourself if you need a barrage of educational news all the time, news about COVID-19, or news that is inspirational?
Never close your door to collaboration. Always be supportive. Never miss an opportunity to bridge gaps, build relationships, friendships, and a community in your building.
Most importantly during a hard day always try to find a reason to smile, for a smile is contagious.
Wolpert-Gawron, Heather. “Teachers: Staying Positive in Trying Times.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 30 Sept. 2013,
Library Corner
Children's Books Read Aloud To Share With Your Class
It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they are so darn delicious! That is until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds out that she may not be at the top of the food chain after all.
This is a great book to discuss the beginning of the school year's expectations in your class and how undesirable behavior impacts others. It might be touching, hitting, or say mean things about others (as a type of verbally eating your classmates) that is not appropriate behavior for children to exhibit.
In addition to reading, You Don't Eat Your Classmates you might:
- Make a T chart asking students what are expected behaviors in a classroom or library and what are inappropriate behaviors.
A Historical Moment
Teaching Tolerance
The March on Washington Mirrors the Movement Today
A few days ago, thousands of people from across the country assemble on the National Mall to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event is a rededication of the 1960s movement while also capturing the urgency of today’s commitment to fight for Black lives amidst a global pandemic and a year marked by police violence. Use these resources to help students draw connections between the marches for justice—and the vital roles of young people—then and now.