The year is coming to a close; my seniors will be graduating in a month. Looking back on this year, I have many mixed emotions about what it is like to educate a group of 17 + 18-year-olds for an entire school year. They can be such delightful intellects one day then annoying brats the next! Talk about mood swings. This is my 4th year of teaching seniors, 5 if you count student teaching. Here are a few things I've learned along the way.
1. Although they think they are adults, these can be some of the most misguided individuals known to mankind.
This, off the bat, sounds like an insult, but I promise it isn't. Before I taught seniors, I thought of them the way I saw myself in high school. I was a pretty well put together girl with big plans. However, when I started teaching seniors, I discovered that many of them were struggling to decide what they would do tomorrow let alone after high school. One of the most challenging aspects of teaching seniors is figuring out how to teach them required content while also teaching them about life.
When it comes to learning about what will be required of them in the career world, I use my "Career Passport" project which requires them to create a resume, write a cover letter, participate in mock interviews, and write a research paper about their career. (The project is listed in my TeachersPayTeachers store. If you own it, be on the lookout for an update - I do yearly updates because I'm always coming up with something new.) I've found that through this project they can get a taste of what really is to come - especially on the job front. But getting a job isn't the hardest thing that they will face in life.
They need to be able to communicate their thoughts, regulate their emotions, and work collaboratively. Not all of these skills can be found in the Common Core. The biggest way that I assist their communication skills is through a Paideia. Click to download my "Build Your Own Paideia" product for only $1. A paideia pushes students to think critically about the text they are reading and incorporate outside informational text then bring that gathered material to the Paideia discussion. It is what I describe as a planned presentation/discussion. I try to do a Paideia for everything we read because it fosters such excellent discussion and allows me to hear how the students truly understood the reading.
Regulating Emotions is the next difficult task of a senior teacher. One way that I do this is simply by getting to know my students, and I mean truly getting to know them. Not in just a "well... I know he likes baseball, so I'm going to talk to him about that" way. I firmly believe that you should understand the personalities of at least 90% of your students. You can't get to them all, and they all won't open up to you, but you should be trying every single day. When you know your students, they open up their emotions to you - not for the meek! I've had kids tell me their deepest darkest secrets. But the best part about that is you can teach them how to regulate emotions - a lack of emotional intelligence and empathy is one of the biggest issues with Gen Z. You can help change that just by talking about life with your students. I know that not all teachers feel comfortable doing this, but that's how I see success. The last important skill these lost humans need to learn is how to work collaboratively. All teachers are working toward this, and if they aren't - that's a problem. Collaboration is one of the biggest buzz words in the career world these days. Easy ways to boost collaboration would be through group projects and activities, but I also like to use a "big kid" version of literature circles that will be posted in my Teachers Pay Teachers store shortly!
2. Seniors need harsh guidelines and routine to sustain work ethic and avoid senioritis.
My seniors may be 18, but they act like they are 8 without proper rules and routine. Think about where they are in life - most of them are sick of school in general. They feel like they've been kept prisoner for their entire lives with no end in sight. On top of that, they are also scared out of their minds - what will I do next year? How will I pay for food? Where will I live? Who is my roommate? Will I keep up with college work? Combine all of that and throw in a healthy dose of teenage hormones and you have yourself a stressed out little person.
Guidelines are good for all students but especially those who are struggling to stay afloat. Be sure that your students know exactly what is expected of them, and keep them busy - constant movement in thought and action will keep seniors from falling into senioritis. When assigning an essay, for instance, think of all the possible loopholes in your assignment - seniors will find those. Bare minimum work is what they are looking for; you can help them overcome their senioritis by not giving them an opportunity (other than not doing the assignment). The loophole I struggle with the most is accidentally not including a normal requirement on an assignment - so, if I want them to type a mini-essay for homework, I need to make sure I put how many sentences/paragraphs I am expecting to see, or else they will do the bare minimum of answering the prompt.
Routines can make or break a classroom. I struggle immensely with maintaining a routine, but each year I get a little better because I see the benefits when I do. Some routines that I have in my classroom are 1. Put your cell phone in Azkaban (link to cell phone holder). I use one that isn't numbered, and I did it myself, but there is a million options on Amazon. 2. Complete the bell ringer. I do grammar, vocab, or a question of the day type activity to keep them moving. Any downtime with seniors is a scary time! Keep them busy! 3. Have enough work for them to do to fill the class period. Seniors will try to get things done more quickly, so have extra! Ultimately, you need to not only teach them but keep their minds working. Good luck!
Seniors may be the most interesting people in the world, aside from those smelly 7th graders (I've always wanted to teach middle school, so no hate here). However, if you teach one of these phenomenal grades, you know that they are lovable and hilarious. Keep teaching them to the best of your availability, and never turn your back on them - you might end up with all your desks upside down.
-- Amanda