A colleague recently called me and asked what concrete steps I think, as an educator, we need to be taking with our students. I thought about that conversation when I read this article from Danielle Austin from the Building Bridges program at Hopeworks: 

Krystle Cook moved into the CRIB after discovering that she did not have enough financial aid to cover housing at Rutgers Camden.  She had to move all of her belongings out of her college dorm and somehow still manage to stay motivated to achieve success in school.  She writes, “my college experience so far has been interesting.  I have lived on and off campus.  I’ve met new people and friends.  This experience has been based off of my own actions.  I have learned to remain resilient in order to accomplish the goals of being an active student and athlete.  I plan on having a strong 2014-2015 school year.”

This story (and others in the post) are heartbreaking, but they are so important for understanding our students. We need to be making school possible, and learning desirable. That starts with helping ensure that students are taken care of, starting with food and shelter. That’s something many teachers understand. I watched as the #evaluatethat hashtag went viral on twitter. Many of the examples were about teachers who took the time and treasure to help their students lives. They saw that as the primary goal of an educator. 

I think that needs to be built into our curriculum. As a student, I once had to pull an all-nighter to finish an assignment for Thursday that a teacher assigned Tuesday. The reason? I had a basketball game Wednesday night. I talked to the teacher afterwards, and she promised me to get the assignments to me earlier, and to give extensions if she could not. I never forgot that. She saw the issue from my perspective, and adjusted to make my life easier. 

That same outlook can be applied to so many things within our current school system. First of all, more choice (particularly when it comes to reading) can be built into syllabi. In Oxford, classes often contain entire book lists, and students are free to choose specific areas to dive deeper. I’ve applied these ideas of depth and choice for students to my classes here at Rutgers-Camden, and think they are easily applied to summer reading lists at even younger ages. Let students read what they love. 

And also, be respectful of their time. One of the great tragedies of our current school system is how much testing is done for the purpose of evaluating students. Too often in that equation, the assessments are designed for those doing the evaluating. Who among us liked standardized tests? Or considered them among our best educational experiences? 

Let’s recenter education around our students. Support their needs. Encourage their interests. Even if it means more flexibility for those of us teaching, and more ingenuity from those of us evaluating.