November 6, 2008
posted 11/6/2008 6:23 PM

Student Homeostasis
Homeostasis is probably a concept I learned at VCS years ago, but never needed to apply. Homeostasis is a state of equilibrium for an organism, individual, or group. I’ve seen references to homeostasis for both biological and social systems. In each case, there is a control center component that responds to negative and positive feedback mechanisms to alter changes for ideal equilibrium. The idea for student homeostasis came to mind a few weeks ago when I was driving my daughter to early morning band practice. I was having a conversation about how she felt about school, mostly catching glances of her in the rear-view mirror. At the long light on School Street and Main, I turned to make eye contact as she was talking about her 6th grade teacher. I hate sitting at that light, but on this morning, the delay was a benefit because I was treated to a day-brightening smile! It wasn’t just the smile, but how she accentuated her happiness on the subject by widening her eyes. I think her student homeostasis systems were green that morning. This is the result of a talented and caring teacher. She attends school in an integrated, co-taught classroom with another teacher she also adores. While an integrated co-taught classroom isn’t right for all students, I think it’s helping her student homeostasis. She receives more than a 1+1 benefit, because she has access to two adults who exhibit world-class team teaching tactics that provide a 2 (to the power of 2) benefit with an incremental impact of 4. OK, I know this is fuzzy math that wouldn’t compute within our recent math curriculum changes, but our dedicated staff work hard to time slice across differentiation and strive for incremental results. Now there is the dreaded association between negative and positive events in homeostasis. This is the friction we all face as parent advocates (student homeostasis control centers) for our child’s well-being and development. Even though all systems aren’t always green, that smile was representative of a green balance across many sub-systems within my daughter’s school homeostasis. I can tell you from experience that our kid’s time at VCS goes fast. I have an older child whose time at VCS and UB has helped him develop into a super young adult whose homeostatic systems are blossoming in the green. As parents, we will face constant negative and positive stimuli in our children’s lives. We can become overwhelmed by yellow and red system changes that require constant attention. We should all take time to enjoy the green status because those magical moments will get us through the yellows and reds. Most of all, we should make sure we share the greens with our school staff and administrators as we brainstorm how to work together and improve the yellows and reds. Our dedicated school staff and administrators are working hard in constantly changing conditions to maintain career homeostasis. Their career homeostasis is rooted in a passion for education and children which is the ultimate pillar for the success of our children’s student homeostasis.

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Make Sure to Enjoy the Positive Factors

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