Yo, Miss! (No. 23)

Try to Find the Joy

When the 2022-2023 school year ended last month, I completed my 21st year of teaching.

As I watched the Class of 2023 graduate on June 27, 2023, I noticed a repeating theme in each graduation speech: finding the joy in life.

The seniors that just graduated (the Class of 2023) had spent most of their freshman year and the entirety of their sophomore year learning from their bedrooms in Zoom School. Then, when they returned to school their junior year, we were all wearing masks and trying to figure out how to learn during a still lingering global pandemic. Kids missed weeks of class when they contracted Covid and we always left school every Friday with a goody bag of at-home Covid tests and face masks.

In my two decades of teaching, I never worked with a more anxious and depressed group of students. Rightfully so! I was also challenged to completely change the way I had been teaching. Everything changed as a result of those years of students learning online. Their attention spans were more limited. Their collective anxiety on a test day was through the roof. The types of homework assignments and class activities that I had assigned before 2020 were not working any more for most my students. They also came to class with a desire to learn an even less whitewashed American History. They’d been on TikTok learning about historical events that were not typically covered in the curriculum. They wanted to share the videos with me and learn more about this content in class.

I did what every good teacher does at moments like this: I adapted. I also was honest and vulnerable with my students and listened to them so I could help them learn best during the tough transition back into in-person learning.

I do not think it is a coincidence that I forged really strong connections with that class of juniors. I was the adult in the room but we were navigating this brave new world of learning during a waning global pandemic together.

I also do not think that it was happenstance that the theme of most of the graduation speeches was about finding a fulfilling life outside of hiding behind screens all day. It was the topic of both the addresses given by the Valdictorian (Henry Chang) and the Salutatorian (Sofia Comeaux). It was also the theme of our Principal Heather DeFlorio’s speech as well as the Commencement Address delivered by my friend, the brilliant 

Frederick Joseph

. Please subscribe to his Substack if you have not already!

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Especially on days like graduation day, I am especially proud to be a teacher. Educators are getting beat up a lot in America these days. It’s a shame because I fear less people will want to enter this profession. Teaching has taught me how to be a more compassionate & open-minded person. I teach American history and not a day goes by when I don’t reflect on how important it is to teach an honest history. Teach the whole complex story of the USA. Help students see themselves in the story of this country so they can be inspired to bring us closer to a more perfect Union because damn we are so close to fully going off the rails.

But one of my biggest goals - and it’s probably what’s kept me going for 21 years - is finding the joy in learning and in life. (Live. Laugh. Love. 😂) Because, honestly, finding the joy, is low key one of the most valuable life skills. It helped me get through years of teaching online to avatars on my screen, alone in my cozy apartment in New York City during the entire pandemic. Looking to find the fun in learning has also kept me teaching for over two decades.

Now I am slowly adjusting to the hazy days of summer. I will be presenting with the nonprofit I co-founded with Abbey Clements and Sarah Lerner, Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, this summer at the National Teacher Leadership Conference this upcoming week

and then at the AFT TEACH Conference 2023.

If you happen to be attending one of these conferences, please find me and say “hello!”

Also, I will be speaking at the Voters of Tomorrow Leaders of Tomorrow 2023, which will bring together young civic and political leaders to listen to inspiring figures, enhance their skills through workshops, and create partnerships in order to boost youth voter turnout in 2024.

So, I will be keeping busy but doing what I love! That is the key to life after all.

My Recommendations of the Week 📚🎶✌🏼

🎧The new PODCAST I started with Little Miss Marxist called PoliToxic Podcast where we tackle the most toxic topics of the week. You can listen to it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you like it, please give our podcast 5 stars and leave a written comment :)

📱The new SOCIAL MEDIA SITE from Meta called Threads. You can follow me here: https://www.threads.net/@saribethrose

💻 Victor Shi interviewed me on his show, “On The Move With Victor Shi”

📰 This excellent New York Times Opinion article by Jamelle Bouie:

An excerpt to get you excited to read it:

“The Declaration as we understand it was forged by struggle. Not the struggle with Britain but the struggle within the independent United States for freedom and equality against the weight of the Constitution and the American political system. As you might imagine, the key that shaped our understanding of the Declaration was the fight to end slavery.”

That’s all for now. All my content is free but, as always, if you want to support my work, consider this option:

Also, you can support me here too https://linktr.ee/saribethrosenberg