I have seen so many social media posts and had so many discussions with teachers about this one question:

We had such high expectations going into the year. We were finally going to be able to DO school again. And then it seems one thing after another hits us in the face and we don’t have the mental or physical capacity to handle it. Our freshmen are behaving like 7th graders and our seniors are behaving like sophomores. We all see it but we don’t understand it.

To understand what’s happening, first we need to understand a little about the brain.

The amygdala is in the mid-brain/limbic area and is one of the oldest parts of the brain. In fact, it’s the part we share with primates. The amygdala developed for one function and one function only: to keep us safe. If the amygdala senses danger, it springs into action.

You are already familiar with the amygdala’s 3 responses:

            Fight

                        Flight

                                        Play Dead

The amygdala is constantly scanning our environment for danger. When it senses danger, it sends the appropriate signals to get us to safety as quickly as possible.

To understand the amygdala response in the context of education, we also need to know a little about the prefrontal cortex.

The prefrontal cortex is the thinking and analyzing part of the brain. This is the problem solving area. This happens to be the newest part of the human brain.

But guess what? If the amygdala senses danger, it will take over the prefrontal cortex and you can’t do anything about it. The information goes one way, OUT of the amygdala to the rest of the brain. This is why you have seen (or maybe even been a participant in) situations where a student is pushing the buttons of a teacher or other student and the whole thing escalates to a shouting match and the student being tossed out of class or even receiving in- or out- of school suspension. Both the teacher and the student KNEW how to respond but were unable to do so. They both likely even had the thoughts in their heads that they shouldn’t be reacting this way, but they were unable to change course because the amygdala was in control and told BOTH participants to stand and fight.

That is exactly what the amygdala evolved to do:

Stand and fight.

Run like hell.

Roll over and play dead.

While we’re at it, let’s talk about the pandemic for a moment.

If we feel this, our students DEFINITELY feel it.

We have an entire society living in “shut down.” Put simply, when you have chronic stress with no end in sight, you are operating out of your amygdala. Remember that your amygdala’s job is to scan for danger. If you sense danger everywhere, you cannot calm or regulate your brain state – you are dysregulated – you can only react. Literally, the ONLY way for your students to be able to learn is for their collective amygdala to sense SAFETY in your classroom.

It’s not all doom and gloom. Especially if you are a World Language Teacher! So many of us got into teaching because of the peoples and cultures of the world. We are already experts at building relationships and that is exactly what we need to continue doing.

We need to meet students where they are. My level 3’s are not where I am accustomed to them being language-wise. Ok. No big deal. We are where we are. We pick up from there and move forward. My level 4’s are definitely nowhere near what I am accustomed to them being. Also no big deal. Is that important? Nope. Not in the least. THEY ARE WHERE THEY ARE. Period. There is zero sense in pushing students to be where they are NOT. Our goal is to build them up and help them feel secure in what they are doing. Rushing content does the opposite of what we want in the classroom – ACQUISITION.

1. Calming brain intervals.

We have 42 minute class periods. Information is crammed at our students all day long with no real break. They are running from the moment the enter school until the bell rings at 2:30. Our school day starts at 7:30 in the morning. Precious few high schoolers are awake enough to function cognitively at this time. Both of those are disastrous to student psyche and morale.

The difference between a brain interval and a brain break is the focus we place on it. In a brain interval we take the time to process our brain and body states after we complete it. And quite often they involve deep breathing. We discuss how we felt before, during, and after the brain interval. Sometimes we even discuss how we can use them in other situations.

2. Slow. Slow. Slower.

I was the self-proclaimed Queen of Slow before. Now I’m moving even slower in class. Previously, we could get 4 separate learning chunks completed in class. Now, we are lucky to get one GOOD learning chunk in. Oh well. This is what we can do right now. I’m super happy to get ONE structure acquired over NO structures acquired. My typical class is broken into 10-12 minute chunks:

• Focused brain interval
• learning segment
• celebration
• exit ticket

I have even quizzed my students about this. Every single class reports that they do not feel we are going slowly. They feel we are going at the perfect speed. Not too fast and not too slow. The best part is they remember that one structure day to day. I am calling that a WIN!

3. Regular celebrations.

Every few days, I ask students for causes for applause. We celebrate passing a difficult test, making it to school today, Friday-eve, Señora didn’t quit today, someone got a new job, someone found a new show to binge-watch on Netflix. Literally any little thing is a cause for our class to cheer each other on. I am finding that after shut down and the 6 foot separation of last year, we don’t know how to be together. Our little celebrations remind students that its not just OK to be together, it’s actually fun to lift one another up.

4. Fun.

We seem to have completely forgotten how to have fun in school. It’s like fun is somehow not safe. So, one day each week I try to focus the entire class on a fun game: Write/Draw/Pass, the Unfair Game, Sra. Chase’s Lucky Reading Game, Sr. Wooly, and more. Does this slow down our progress? Depends on how you view it, but that’s the point – slow, slow, slow.

Fridays are sacred TV-viewing days. We watch 20 minutes of Nailed It! Mexico (learn more about my viewing guide here) or a movie in Spanish. In level 3, for the month of October, we are watching Coco on Fridays. I adapted AnneMarie’s Coco resources to meet our current needs. Students are locked in! They LOVE Fridays. Listening in Spanish and reading the subtitles in Spanish are EASY when they already know the plot line in English. They have something to compare the Spanish to. And something to look forward to each week. Once Coco is finished, I plan to move to The Book of Life. When that is finished, we might go back to Nailed It! (there are multiple seasons for both Mexico and Spain). OR, I will let them decide which movie is next. As long as they are engaged in compelling, triple input (seeing action, listening AND reading in Spanish) it doesn’t matter what we choose to view.

In level 4, we are super engaged in Go! Vive a tu manera. There are lots of resources on TPT. We sing the cheesy songs together, we make fun of the plot line, and we generally have loads of fun together.

5. Safe zone.

I’ve worked really hard at making my classroom SAFE for my students’ amygdalas. I give space when a student needs it. I’ve given lots of hugs (always masked AND I’ve had the booster). I have discussed systemic racism. I give loads of “class points” and make a cake every once in a while for the “winning class” (which is always random and I never take away points). And I try to show students that I understand what they are going through because I, too, am experiencing their anguish.

6. Protecting my own mental health.

I am no good to anyone if I cannot function at a minimal level. I take a sick day when I need a mental break. I try to ignore when someone who is not a teacher (or an admin who has never taught during a pandemic) tells me to “take care of me” because that just seems ingenuine. A big part of the problem is the underfunding of schools so that teachers are underpaid, have large class sizes, and unrealistic expectations placed on us by not just our districts but society in general – but I’ll save that for a different looooonnng blog post.

Am I a great teacher every day? Nope. Am I a really good teacher most days? YES! And that is so much more important. Will my students end the year where my 3’s and 4’s typically end the year? Probably not. But that’s OK, too. We are in charge of what is acceptable and I say that slow progress mixed with healthy doses of fun is so much more important than some false deadline, syllabus, or benchmark.

Check back in soon for a free slide-show chock full of brain intervals. I will be adding to them all year long. Until then… OK is good enough.