What Last School Year Taught Me

 

Ahhhhhhh. Summer is here! The gradebook is closed, the desks are empty, and somewhere between turning in your keys and settling in with that first slow cup of coffee of summer, there's a rare moment of stillness. It's the space between the hectic rush of finishing the school year and the slower pace of summer.

I don't know if you're the same way, but my teacher brain doesn't completely switch off the moment summer begins. Before I can truly relax, I need a little time to reflect on the year that just ended. In fact, there are always two things I do before I can fully embrace summer break: I sketch out a rough plan for those important first days back to school, and I create a big-picture pacing plan (FREE template in my store; see how I use it in this video) for the upcoming year.

But before I do either of those things, I take an honest look back at the last school year. I think about what worked, what challenged (or humbled) me, and what I'd like to do differently moving forward.  To help guide that reflection, I revisit my notes from last year’s pacing calendar, lesson plans, and assessments, as well as the end-of-year survey feedback from my students.

As I reflected on this past school year, a few clear patterns emerged.  So, without further ado, here are my three biggest insights from this year.

Insight #1: AI Didn't Destroy My Classroom, But It Did Change It

Last summer, as I prepared for the school year, I was bracing for the worst.

Every conversation in the teacher's lounge, every professional development session, and every education headline seemed to be screaming that AI was either going to revolutionize learning or destroy academic integrity as we know it.

The reality, at least in my classroom, was messier and more interesting than either extreme.  Rather than trying to ban AI altogether, I focused on helping students understand when its use was appropriate and when I needed to see their own thinking. I found that the key wasn't fighting AI; it was designing learning experiences that made student thinking visible.

Some of the strategies I used included the following:

• Requiring portions of writing and literary analysis to be completed in class

• Relying less on Chromebooks and more on printed texts and handouts to encourage close reading and independent analysis

• Incorporating more discussion-based learning activities

• Using handwritten brainstorming, annotation, and prewriting tasks

• Breaking larger assignments into smaller checkpoints throughout the process

• Conferencing with students and asking them to explain or defend their thinking

• Placing greater emphasis on the learning process and not just the final product

• Increasing the use of collaborative learning activities and small-group discussions

• Building more opportunities for students to talk through their thinking before writing

• Breaking longer lessons into shorter, more interactive segments

• Connecting texts and assignments to issues and experiences students found relevant

• Focusing on creating learning experiences that invited engagement rather than expected it

• Incorporating quick response activities to keep all students actively involved

• Focusing on creating learning experiences that invited engagement rather than expected it

The bottom line: If there was one lesson AI taught me this year, it was the importance of being intentional. It made me rethink not only the tasks I assign but also how I measure student learning. That said, I'm still figuring this out and thinking about what (if anything) needs to be tweaked for next year. 

Insight #2: The Grading Debate Didn't Get Any Easier

Oh, where to start? Standards-based grading. Mastery-based grading. Grade for effort, or don't. Weight homework, or don't. Allow unlimited retakes, or hold a firm line. The grading debate has been loud in education circles for years, and I don't see it quieting down anytime soon.

Truthfully, I have some pretty strong opinions on this topic. I'm probably more "old school" than many current grading experts would recommend. I believe deadlines matter. I believe missing work should have consequences. I believe a grade should reflect what a student has actually demonstrated, not simply the effort they put forth or the amount of grace I extend.

And yet, grading is still the area where I find myself questioning and refining my thinking the most.  This year reminded me that grading isn't nearly as black-and-white as the debates make it seem. While I value accountability and responsibility, I've also seen firsthand that students don't all arrive in our classrooms with the same circumstances, support systems, abilities and/or challenges. Even though I teach advanced-level students, I tend to always have a few students who should probably be in the on-level class, and this can present a struggle when it comes to equitable grading.  The tension between maintaining high expectations and extending reasonable grace is one I'll probably continue wrestling with for the rest of my career.

The bottom line: Grading continues to challenge me to think carefully about the balance between accountability and grace. My goal isn't to create a perfect grading system, but one that is clear, consistent, and aligned with the values I want to communicate to students. This remains a work in progress, and one I'll likely continue revisiting and refining throughout my career.

 Insight #3: Engagement Has Changed, and So Must We

I've had to do some serious unlearning in the last few years around what engagement is supposed to look like. Back in the horse-and-buggy days (as I love to say to my students!) when I first started teaching, it felt easier to hold students' attention. You could explain a concept, assign a task, and expect most students to stay focused for a reasonable amount of time.

Today's students are growing up in a completely different world. They carry devices that provide instant answers, endless entertainment, and constant notifications. They're accustomed to scrolling, swiping, and consuming information in short bursts. Whether we like it or not, that reality follows them into our classrooms.

For a while, I found myself frustrated by what seemed like shorter attention spans and lower levels of engagement. I have come to realize that constantly comparing today's students to those I taught twenty years ago wasn't particularly helpful. The students in front of me are the students I have, and it's my job to meet them where they are.

To increase engagement, I made several shifts in my instruction over the last few years: 

• Increased the use of collaborative learning activities and small-group discussions

• Built more opportunities for students to talk through their thinking before writing

• Broke longer lessons into shorter, more interactive segments

• Connected texts and assignments to issues and experiences students found relevant

• Focused on creating learning experiences that invited engagement rather than expected it

• Incorporated quick response activities to keep all students actively involved

Two areas I want to focus on for next year are providing students with more choice in how they demonstrate their learning and incorporating more movement-based activities when appropriate. Both are opportunities to increase engagement while still maintaining high expectations.

The bottom line: Student engagement hasn't disappeared, but it does look different from what it used to. The more I've adapted my instruction to reflect that reality, the more success I've seen. Moving forward, I want to continue finding ways to make learning active, meaningful, and worthy of my students' attention.

Final Thoughts

As I reflect on this past year, one thing remains true: I still believe in this work. Despite the challenges, the changes, and the ongoing questions, there are always plenty of moments that remind me why I became a teacher in the first place. Those moments don’t make the challenges disappear, but they do make them worth working through. 

Teaching is not a stagnant profession. Our world is constantly evolving, and so are our students and the ways we teach them. The work we do isn’t about getting everything “right,” but about staying responsive, intentional, and willing to adjust as we go.  

Even after 20 years in the classroom, there is always more learning and growing to do. I’m heading into the next year with intention.  I’m ready (and willing) to keep refining my practice, making adjustments, and doing the best I can to do right by the students in front of me.

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