What students forget:

• The Krebs cycle
• Historical facts
• How to solve quadratic equations
• The homework they did
• Answers on tests
• Worksheets
• Teachers who will forget them

What students remember:

• Teachers who will remember them
• Teachers who listened
• Teachers that made them laugh
• Teachers who were passionate about teaching
• Teachers who didn’t give up on them
• Friends
• Engaging projects
• Sports and clubs

These lists are not extensive… but they are the inspiration for a question: What will students remember about school during the 2020-2021 pandemic?

Teachers have it tough right now. Students too. More than ever teachers need to focus on teaching students, not subjects.

Yesterday I saw an article with a title like, ‘Study shows students are months behind in reading skills due to remote learning.’ Squeezing one more book into the year won’t change that. Showing students a passion for reading will.

Focus on students… and they will remember you, and what you taught them, for all the right reasons.