If We Taught Every Student Like They Were Coming Home Tomorrow…
If you knew your student was going home tomorrow…
Would you still spend the morning explaining gerunds?
Would you still assign the same worksheet?
Would you still say, “We’ll get to that next week”?
Or would something shift?
What If Every Lesson Mattered Right Now?
Because here’s the truth: in correctional education, we don’t always know when the release will come.
Transfers happen overnight. Court decisions change futures in an instant.
One day a student is in your class.
The next day, they’re gone.
So here’s a question I carry with me:
What if we taught every student like they were coming home tomorrow?
What if we treated every day like it was their last day to learn something that could change their life?
Let me be clear. I’m not talking about rushed, cram-it-all-in teaching.
I’m talking about intentional teaching. Purposeful teaching. Teaching with urgency (not panic).
Because the stakes are high.
For many of our students, every day behind the fence is a day they could be preparing for life beyond the fence, and we don’t always get a second chance to reach them. When we treat our classrooms like they matter, like they’re the thing, not just a holding pattern, we give our students something powerful:
A reason to believe in tomorrow.
Relevance Isn’t a Luxury
If a lesson doesn’t connect to a student’s real life (i.e., what they care about, what they’ll face when they leave) it probably won’t stick, and can you blame them?
A math lesson about imaginary numbers won’t land if you haven’t explained how to calculate interest on a payday loan.
A language arts essay about symbolism won’t resonate if a student can’t read their own parole paperwork.
A history unit on the Cold War might go over better if you frame it through the lens of power, conflict, and survival…something they do understand.
Relevance isn’t about lowering standards. It’s about raising engagement.
It’s about saying, “I see where you’re headed, and I want to make sure you’re ready.”
Dignity Is the Foundation
If we taught every student like they were coming home tomorrow, we’d be more careful with our words.
We’d be quicker to listen.
We’d stop saying things like,
“You don’t act like you want to learn,”
and start asking,
“What’s getting in the way today?”
Because let’s face it. Some students have been told for years that they’re too far gone, too slow, too angry, too damaged.
They don’t need more judgment.
They need dignity.
They need a classroom that sees them as whole, even when they’re still healing.
So… What Would Change?
If we taught every student like they were coming home tomorrow...
We’d prioritize what matters: life skills, emotional intelligence, job readiness, critical thinking.
We’d move with purpose, not just pace.
We’d build relationships, not just routines.
We’d see the person, not just the charge.
We’d stop waiting for “someday” and start teaching for today.
Because for some of our students, tomorrow is the day.
And the work we do today might be the thing that helps them walk out the gate a little more confident, a little more prepared, a little more whole.
☕ See you next Sunday. In the meantime, enjoy whatever fall weather you’re experiencing, and take some moments for you…maybe with a hot cup o’joe.
