And so the journey begins

“[Kids] don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.” – Jim Hensen

“In learning, you will teach, and in teaching, you will learn.” – Phil Collins

“Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.” – John Wooden

As a teacher, I find I often the first few weeks of the school year are a whirlwind of meetings, prepping and engaging in classes, marking and all the things that quickly make me forget the long summer hours. Many of my teacher friends agree with the same challenges. “I’ll touch base after Thanksgiving” is a common phrase. I find that the school year quickly takes over my life and makes it hard to connect with others outside of your school sphere. If you want to do well as a teacher, so often it feels you have to not do as well as something else. I often mark and plan most evenings and much of the weekend.  Part of my goal this year is to try harder to balance the summer self with the school self. To find time to be my best work-self and to enjoy things I need to be happy and fulfilled outside of school.

As someone that has changed schools a few times over the last few years, I’ve found many of my colleagues are in the same boat. They find it hard to connect with people and make time for the essential things in their own life if they want to be the best teacher they can be. It’s so easy to get up, go to work, get home later than you meant to, finish planning and start all over again the next day. Where does this leave us with family, friends, and fun things? What makes it feel harder for me is new schools mean new schedules, a steep learning curve, and more planning. It also makes it harder to find time to connect with former colleagues who have different school priorities.

What I liked about this first meeting of Cohort21 was the fact it was scheduled time to connect with colleagues beyond my school. It was so great to see familiar faces and meet others from schools I haven’t been to. It was a chance to brainstorm, feel inspired and catch up on each other’s lives. Many of those I chatted to seemed excited to be at the F2F yet also felt overwhelmed with the time it took from their weekend, planning and what it might look like over the year. I felt I was overwhelmed too. For me, it was because my brain was running a mile a minute on what cool things I could explore this year and who I could connect with to do it.

So Cohort21, for me, is an opportunity to maybe bring the fun and play side of my journey as a teacher in balance with the day-to-day expectations of being a great teacher. It is scheduled time I know I will be able to network with others and feel inspired. Even when I and others feel overwhelmed it’s good to know that we’re all in a similar boat – we want to be better teachers and find fulfillment in all areas of our life. It will all work out. Like many of the mentors and coaches said, they started the Cohort journey having no idea the paths it would lead them down. What path will that be for me?