What's good is that the activities planned, curriculum taught, and new learning/teaching explored are all positive. We're giving students lots of opportunity to explore multiple mediums of learning. Though some prefer some more than others, there's essentially learning for everyone. Even when a child does not like a learning event, that teaches that child something important about who they are, and what they enjoy.
The not so good part of a too-busy week is that sometimes the children who need more structure and more time, can get overwhelmed, and when they are overwhelmed their self regulation, good choices, and ability to work well with peers and teachers diminishes. A good routine is important to all children and especially children who need for structure and time for many, many reasons.
Yet as I think about the curriculum map and the year's planning, it is never perfect, and there are many, many factors involved including multiple teachers, classes, tests, and more. In general we create a curriculum map at the start of the year to support a good pace with regard to the learning. There are times with more activity and less and times where the activity is more engaging and less depending on the tasks at hand and expectations. When we plan, we plan for a positive balance of effort so it is just right for every child.
Rather than lessen the positive events included in our schedule, I think one way that we can help out when the learning becomes too much for individual children is to make sure their special supports are in place--if we're going to teach in the field, then those special supports should be available in the field too. We'll have to think more about how to make that happen with our extended teaching team, and as noted in a previous post, we have to think carefully about preparation especially for children who may be challenged by a particular learning event. For example, when we attended the theater this year, we provided a lot of preparation to help children who would be sensitive to the plot, location, and seating. Similarly with our recent field trip, we alerted families to the preparation needs that help children out. Yet, it's hard to anticipate every issue that will happen. As a parent, I know that's the same with our own family outings--we plan the events well, prepare, and expect everything to go as planned, yet it's more likely that not every element of those events go as planned. Every parent can name circumstances where things didn't go as planned for all kinds of reasons. And with that in mind, it's important to teach students about being flexible too, and how to stop, look, listen, and decide what to do when events don't go as planned.
The busiest week of the school year is over, and now we are moving into busy times, but times with less intense expectations--times when we'll be able to help each other complete tasks with care, and times mostly close to school where there will be lots of supports available as we end the school year.
