Reflections

With the end of each school year comes excitement for Summer with our families, but also a little sadness for closing out a year with students and colleagues that have become big parts of our lives. Each year ends with learning about colleagues moving on to other adventures. I would always feel a twinge of sadness because even though we do the, “Let’s get together soon…” we all know that because of proximity and busy schedules we eventually lose touch. It also meant that the dynamics of our school “family” were going to change. 

This year I was one of the ones moving on to another adventure after 14 years of being under the same roof with a core group of the same colleagues. I learned the true meaning of the term bittersweet in those last days. Saying goodbye to some of the people that have walked alongside me through so many of my life experiences was really hard. I walked through the hallways one afternoon and visited every classroom that I once taught in and just cried over the happy memories. I think I was feeling and experiencing grief. The sweet part is that the choice to move was mine and I am so excited to start my dream role of becoming a literacy coach. I know that the place I am going to is filled with wonderful teachers and sweet kids, but it was still hard to say goodbye. 

This really made me think about the importance of building relationships with colleagues. So often we put all of the focus on building relationships with our students, but leave out the networking we can do with the teachers down the hall. I can tell you that without a shadow of doubt my colleagues got me through some of my most difficult days. It is special when you find a place like that to teach. My hope for all teachers going into the next school year is that they take time to really get to know the people they work with. It is a key element in helping us to do the really hard work of teaching. Having colleagues you can lean on and laugh with will make your job so much better. We do not have to go through the hard and happy things alone. We should be sharing a little bit of ourselves with each other. There are so many new teachers coming into the field, and veteran teachers making shifts and moving schools. Let’s be intentional about reaching out to them and making them feel welcome in our schools. We have to get back to remembering the good in our profession. This is one of those really good parts that we should embrace. ~ Whitney