The “Shakedown” month
At the Wood Acres School, we know that long stretches of time create maximum opportunities for student learning and we build our school calendar to facilitate this belief. I recently read an article from Susan Kruger, the creator of SOAR, a study skills program, who actually refers to October as the most difficult month of the school year because it is a long stretch of time without a school break. One of her teachers even referred to it as “shakedown” month.
Her feeling was that the days are long and our students are growing and testing their boundaries with us and with their peers. We are stretching our students and they are facing new and higher expectations and learning new material. They are challenging themselves daily.
So…how do we make the most of this “shakedown”? How do we help our students be successful during this time? Here are some tips from Susan Kruger that resonated with my faculty and me.
We recognize that learning can be challenging, is hard work and that is ok. We are not afraid to instill a strong work ethic in our students.
We tell our students who are feeling the stress and pressure of this time that it will not last forever. The lovely holiday season is just around the corner.
We help our students get ready for a day of learning. We help them relax, settle into the day, feel comfortable, and reset any negative emotional thoughts they might be bringing into the classroom.
We move around on our spacious campus to get some exercise before starting a new lesson.
We always emphasize the positive. We remind students not to give up, but to keep trying and to stay the course. This is of course, the most important indicator of long-term success.