With the end-of-summer upon us, many of us are back-to-school after an extended weekend—walking the hallways, talking with students, and making the most of the rush. In All Other Duties As Assigned, I mention leveraging proximity in Maximize Your Visibility, when noting “ . . . you cannot serve at the intersection of a student’s challenges and capacity without being in arm’s reach” (p. 11).
In leveraging proximity, what we say in passing has an impact. This holds true for comments we make about four-day weeks and extended weekends around holidays. It is important we celebrate our time together, NOT that we have short weeks.
In other words, “So glad we’re back!” is preferable; “Only four days this week!” is not. Even if the latter tacks-on, “. . . so make the most of it!”, it’s not the best approach.
Four-day school weeks, while preferred by many adults and students, aren’t for everyone. Some don’t like going home, staying home, or being home. For whatever their reasons, they have a rough go-of-it on the outside.
Let’s take for instance students who have their only trusted, caring adults in school, or those hungry or neglected. Probably, they aren’t celebrating short weeks or extended weekends. They’re not shouting “T.G.I.F.”
I sometimes think of things outside of education, to make sense of the things inside—like here, I envision a scene from the book or movie production, The Outsiders, with Ponyboy and Johnny Cade hiding-out in a church, where Ponyboy recites a poem from Robert Frost (1874 – 1963).
Source Credit, From The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem (1923, 1947, 1969) by Henry Holt and Company, in link: https://poets.org/poem/nothing-gold-can-stay , with copyrights noted therein for Robert Frost and Lesley Frost Ballantine, as well.
Now with story characters like Ponyboy and Johnny, one might interpret “Gold” to depict the fleeting innocence of childhood or the value of good friendships. For kids in our own schools—some with heavy stuff going on—“Gold” might represent with careless adult reinforcement, that time spent in a safe environment is fleeting, or worse that the rare, trusting relationships in students’ lives will be short-lived, as they are not what is valued and prioritized by those in charge.
Students of any age may instead wish to hear that educators would rather be no place else than in school with them!
It’s not a stretch for me to imagine when Assistant Principals verbalize fondly of times NOT with students (i.e. short weeks, pining for the weekend, countdowns to summer vacation, T.G.I.F.’s, etc.) this could circumvent the togetherness and security we’re hoping to foster. I’m not advocating for a prohibition of levity, humor, or a brief respite from organizational minutia . . . just suggesting a more mindful approach to what we celebrate, with peripheral vision always a part.
Might we note the good that comes with a short week instead—that we’re together again, even if for a shorter period of time, because that is what counts—Because students count.
That’s worthy of celebration.