Friday, March 11, 2016

Changes


For the twenty-two years, I have been proud to teach and coach at my school.  When I was hired in 1994, I was a new teacher, with just a year's experience.  Now, I am a seasoned veteran who has had the opportunity to learn and grow with amazing colleagues.  For the past four years, I have served as the literacy coach in my building, working alongside teachers to solve problems of practice and to figure out how to best serve our students.

This year, I've struggled.  I've cried.  I've thought and thought and thought about what should be the next steps in my career.  I talked to my principal.  I talked to my friends.  I talked to Dan.  And through all of this crying and talking and thinking, I figured out that coaching is not for me.  I think it important work.  It is hard work.  It is work I can do well.  But it is not work that brings me joy.

Ultimately,  I realized I felt very isolated.  Though I work with teachers all day, I am not part of a team of teachers who are working together toward a common goal.  I need that collegiality.  I desperately miss working with a classroom of children.  Kids and teammates bring energy and joy to my work.

So I am returning to the classroom in the fall, but not as a middle school teacher.  I am moving to one of our elementary buildings where I will be teaching third grade.  THIRD GRADE!!!!  I can hardly believe it!  I'm so excited about this new adventure.  I have so much to learn!  So many books to read! So many things to think about!

So wish me luck... it's going to be a wild ride.

9 comments:

  1. I'm so excited for you. You will love third grade and the chance to have a classroom of your own. Congratulations! I hope the upcoming year is filled with laughter, joy and a wonderful team of colleagues.

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  2. Wow, wow, wow. How exciting! I am so excited for you! Through your tears you found what really, really brings you joy. Third grade! Yippee! You get to be with people and on a team.
    It sounds like the best way to serve the students is to be living with joy. Oh how fun. I don't see any way to subscribe to your blog. I would love to follow your writing. I love your honesty.
    xo
    Pamela

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    1. Pamela,
      Thank you so much! You can follow my blog by clicking the Google Friend Connect to join the site. Do you use Feedly or another RSS feed? You can follow that way as well.

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  3. Wow, wow, wow. How exciting! I am so excited for you! Through your tears you found what really, really brings you joy. Third grade! Yippee! You get to be with people and on a team.
    It sounds like the best way to serve the students is to be living with joy. Oh how fun. I don't see any way to subscribe to your blog. I would love to follow your writing. I love your honesty.
    xo
    Pamela

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  4. So excited for you! A new journey awaits!

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  5. How exciting!! Good luck in your new endeavor!

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  6. This is very exciting, and as a literacy coach, I understand why you're making this move. Every time I read a post about someone working with their community of learners, a feel a twang of envy. Best of luck in 3rd grade! You will be taking some great knowledge with you from your past years as a coach.

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  7. Good for you-- we need to feel joy in what we do. Third grade will be great for you -- so glad you are making the change you need. We look forward to learning with you next year through your blog and posts about your wild ride!
    Clare

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  8. I'm so excited for you! 3rd grade is such a great year. I really like my work now and I do it well and know it's important (teaching pre-service teachers in college). But there was a joy to teaching high school that I never really experience in my college classroom. There are different pleasures and satisfactions, to be sure, but the pure exhilaration and joy of teaching isn't really there in the same way. So I get it.

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