As the 2020-2021 school year comes to a close, I am reflecting on things that went well, what to bring into next year, what to leave behind, and where I need to grow. I have three more weeks of school, but around this time of year my thoughts always leap to the upcoming year with things I will continue or discontinue doing. I am looking at you, converting paper-pencil resources into digital files for that last one!
The first things that came to mind when reflecting on this year are the negatives of 2020-2021, which with COVID-19 there certainly are enough of those, but that has been out of anyone’s control such as teaching virtually, implementing mitigation strategies that are extremely important (but also incredibly time-consuming and energy-draining), keeping students separated, more independent work, no handheld manipulatives, and masks hiding student smiles. At first, I was left feeling defeated, demoralized, and overwhelmed. But, there is always a light in the darkness and I knew I had to find it.
My mind was drawn to a structure we use in our Positive Discipline behavioral model at school called Compliments and Appreciations. In a class meeting, we teach students how to compliment each other and how to appropriately accept a compliment. While I do not think 2020 deserved a compliment, I was able to find some things to compliment and appreciate about the 2020-2021 school year.
I appreciate the opportunity to work from home and was able to spend more time with my now toddler since my commute was drastically shorter.
I appreciate how hard my first-grade students and their families worked at the beginning of the year to teach them how to use technology so that we could finally begin working.
I would like to compliment my teammates, Andrea and Chelsea, for welcoming me onto the team at the beginning of the year and sharing all of the resources you have accumulated and created over the years.
I appreciate my health, and the health of my loved ones, colleagues, students, and families. I am so thankful that all of the students, families, and friends I know that have contracted COVID-19 have recovered.
I would like to compliment the technology we have at school that allowed us to reach our students this year. In all transparency, I would also like to curse at this technology for the glitches and malfunctions throughout the year, too, but that is a blog post for another time.
I would like to compliment my students who walk into my classroom each morning and brightly say “Good morning, Mrs. Gawlowski!”
Oh, and I appreciate coffee like I never have before.
Caitlin Gawlowski
Caitlin was born to be a teacher, although she did not realize that teaching was her calling until she went to college. She has always loved to write, and began college with the mindset of becoming a journalist. Before beginning her freshman year of college, she changed my major to Elementary Education on a whim and has never looked back. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University, and won the Outstanding Student Teacher Award during her student teaching experience in the Cave Creek Unified School District. Caitlin spent 9 years in the classroom teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. She became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2018, and holds a certificate in Early and Middle Childhood Literacy: Reading/Language Arts. The 2021-2022 school year marks the beginning of her 10th year teaching, where she will be working as an Academic Interventionist, and supporting other National Board candidates on their journey toward National Board certification. If she is lucky enough to have free time, you can find her traveling Arizona with her husband and son, spending time with her friends and family, taking group fitness classes, or enjoying a good book.