Everything matters to us forever. By: Jason Augustowski

February has always been my least favorite month of the year.  I don't know what it is - but I've always had a negative association with the month.  For as long as I can remember, February has symbolized dreariness, the hanging on of winter, things melting, freezing over, and melting again.  It's the middle of the long haul from winter to spring break for many students (with minimal breaks in between).  It's the slump.

But February is also the season we celebrate love.  And although I realize that Valentine's Day has largely become a commercial holiday - a necessary checkmark to prove to our loved ones (and our entire social media following) that they are on our minds - it IS a season of love nonetheless.  I like that we have a time in our year dedicated to pondering love - and I hope that we are taking the time to observe the season properly.

Many will discuss how we explore the concept of love in the late fall, early winter (around the holidays) - but as I have noted previously, I don't believe there is a time more depressing than the cold dark winter that follows those happy days.  And February is a part of that time.  So perhaps it is nice to take a step back and rediscover the love we felt and celebrated only several weeks prior.

When I find myself pondering and reflecting (really about anything) - I like to bring that into the classroom for my students to ponder and discuss as well.  For the past years, we have celebrated Valentine's Day in my high school classroom with quick writes pertaining to the people we love most and an annual sing-a-long of the song "Seasons of Love" from the Broadway musical RENT.  We put the lyrics up on the board, and after a few practice runs with the soundtrack, the students are ready to line up with their classmate-family (just like the original choreography) and sing over the karaoke track.  There is clapping, laughing and fun for some really great moments in the middle of our dreary February slump.  We are re-centering and returning to what is important.

And that is the question I am asking all of us today, have we spent enough time spreading reflections of love with our students?  Have we discussed eros and philos and agape?  Have we taken the time amidst the snow days, amidst the catchup, amidst the never-ending march through the curriculum to remind students of how much they matter?  I like to tell them that:

Everything you do and every move you make matters...to all of us...forever.

Because it is true.  The level of transference we have on one another is astronomical.  And although people have the propensity to "move on" and pathways part, the meaningful impact we are having on one another in any given moment is tangible and real.  We live in present moments - not simply in memory or future desires.  Let's take the time to ground students in the now.  To show them how to appreciate all that surrounds them by modeling how we appreciate all who surround us.  (See?)

And I didn't say this all had to be completely devoid of any English discipline learning.  I know so many wonderfully engaging teachers who celebrate Valentine's day in a myriad ways with their high schoolers.  I love the teachers that still encourage the students to exchange dollar store cards (can't do that unless a warm and safe classroom environment has been established), who play team building games, who have open discussions where every student has the time to speak.  Perhaps investigate the themes of love in the texts we read - how about enjoying the Scottish dialect of Robert Burns' "A Red, Red Rose?"  How about discussing the insensitivity of some modern-day greeting cards: (I received a Valentine from a teacher colleague that pictured an elephant and stated "I love you a ton.")  When we think of elephants, why do we judge them by their weight instead of by their minds?  How about a picture of an elephant that read "I will never forget you?"

These are the discussions we can be having with our students during this dreary time of year.  And who knows, in doing so, perhaps we can steer the feeling of this season away from the commercialism and more towards the sentiment.  Let's empower our students to love.  Let's model for them by establishing that safe classroom environment where everyone feels valued.  The kids are always watching, and no matter how old they get, they are still just looking for someone to respect and care about them.  Everything we do and every move we make matters...to all of them...forever.  Let's remember that.