Debbie Varga, OWLA President-Elect 
Spanish Teacher, McKinley Senior High School

Almost-summer greetings fellow OWLA members!  It is exciting that the end of the school year is in sight, and now is the perfect time for reflection.  The topic of resilience is vital for not only us as world language educators, but also for our students.  “Embracing the struggle” in a safe space allows us to focus on the needs of the students first, and then the curriculum.  You can “control your 20 feet” by building relationships with your students even though it is definitely challenging at times, and creating a classroom environment that allows students to have opportunities for small-group instruction can contribute immensely to bring about positive change when building these relationships. 

I always try to create a classroom that is what I call “a refuge for learning”.  Try asking  yourself the question, Am I the reason a student came to school today?  Immediately providing multiple ways for students to know what the daily lesson activities are can  provide a focus. Upon entering the classroom, and if the students need a lot of structure/scaffolding, I like to provide a paper checklist as well as a doc posted digitally on the TV.  When students feel the need to just give up on learning and/or shut down entirely, providing a solid recycling of content can help them build confidence and experience success even if they are having difficulty catching up on their work.  

“The long win” is what I try to keep in sight on those difficult days and reflect on how I will remember this classroom scenario 5 or 10 years from now.  Bouncing back from setbacks is something that we all learn along the way in our teaching careers, and it is most important to have as much grace with yourself as you do with your students.