The proverbial senior slump is a valley too low to penetrate. Their eyes are glazed; their minds set on caps and gowns and the release into summer. Perhaps there are some viable alternatives to “the slump.” Meanwhile, we all suffer -- and sing -- our way through it.
School probably has been over for them for a long time, but when the warm weather finally hits, seniors are definitely “outta here.”
Down in the valley, the valley so low,
Seniors are slumping, aching to go.
About the Lyricist
Eric Baylin has been a teacher for 38 years, working with a variety of age levels in both public and
private schools in New York and North Carolina. He currently works at Packer
Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York, a K-12 independent school established in 1854. In
addition to teaching art and photography to middle- and high-school students, Eric coordinates a program
of collaborative faculty study groups in Packer's professional development program.
They have learned all that they want to know,
They are so ready, ready to go.
Their pace has slowed down, down to a crawl,
Coming to class late, or not at all.
Hard to remember, hard to recall,
How hard they worked way back in the fall.
It was all over when they got mail,
Early decision, got into Yale.
No more incentive, it never fails,
Those letters take wind out of their sails.
Why bother learning once you are in?
Wait until college, and start up again.
But in the meantime, to their chagrin,
There’s still some school left; can they dig in?
Maybe they all should quit, after fall.
Send them to China, or Senegal,
Somewhere that’s far a-way from it all.
Have an adventure; they’d have a ball.
But they’re still here, though you wouldn’t know,
Staring out windows, moving so slow.
Teachers are trying, trying although,
Their minds are gone; they’re ready to go.
Song lyrics copyright 2008 Eric Baylin
Tuning our Schools with Laughter
This is my 39th year
in teaching. Ouch! It's hard to see that in print. Several years ago, I had one of those great "aha"
moments that has given new life to my role as an educator.
I've always been interested in working to change schools in ways that enhance and support learning,
but I'd gotten to a point in my career when I saw that all my serious, effortful striving played
only a minimal role in change. The "aha" came when I realized that I could, at least, change my
state of mind by laughing at the very things that bugged me most. OK, maybe not everything. But at least the little everyday stuff that nags at me and drags me down.
That thought became fodder for songs about school and teaching, which I started writing as a way
of helping myself (and my colleagues) survive the year with an intact sense of humor.
I still work hard to change the things that stand in the way of student (and adult) success in
schools. But now I wonder -- seriously -- if laughter itself isn't one of the soundest pedagogies,
a "best practice" that can help us re-tune our schools and shift the culture to one that genuinely
embraces wellbeing and lightness of heart as sound supports for learning.
I wouldn't mind working at a school whose mission statement included, after those ever-familiar
phrases, "lifelong learning" and "supportive, yet challenging environment," the words
And this is a school where we love to laugh!
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Eric Baylin's
This is my 39th year
in teaching. Ouch! It's hard to see that in print. Several years ago, I had one of those great "aha"
moments that has given new life to my role as an educator.
