Teach & Serve V, No. 19
Choose Your Ending When You Can
December 11, 2019
All of us as we creep up on Christmas Break can and should find a place to end things, no matter if we will pick them back up in a short few weeks. We have time to decide what we will do to choose our ending.
Christmas Break looms large.
In many schools, Christmas Break indicates a stop and a start. Some schools are approaching exams, wrapping up semesters and getting ready to shut down and, in January, gear back up. In many, however, there are no exams coming, no clean breaks approaching.
My school is like this. We are on trimesters, so we come into the break knowing that we will come back in a few weeks to pick things up right where they left off.
And this is fine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this.
However, all of us as we creep up on Christmas Break can and should find a place to end things, no matter if we will pick them back up in a short few weeks. We have time to decide what we will do to choose our ending.
Leaving our students hanging over break is bad mojo. Letting our staff go off with no resolution is a bad idea. It’s like the season finale of a television show that gets cancelled. It’s like a movie that thinks it’s going to get a sequel when it does not. It’s like a cliffhanger that is never resolved.
As we approach Christmas Break, we have the opportunity to be intentional about choosing our ending. We have an opportunity to celebrate what has come before and to set the tone for what will come after. It is good that we take it.
As teachers, we should capture some time to review our interactions as a class. What has worked? What would we change. As administrators, we can highlight what has gone well so far this year and point out what we will do differently going forward in it. We have a natural break coming. We can take advantage of it.
Often, we do not get to choose our ending. Let’s take advantage when we can.