Change & Progress

Change is all around us.  It's what challenges us.  It's what makes us grow.  The changes facing education really smacked me in the face about a year or two ago when a previous colleague of mine connected with me about getting back into teaching.  Like several friends/previous colleagues of mine, she taught for several years, started a family and decided to stay home, and then planned to jump back into teaching when the youngest entered first grade.  By the time she decided to go back to work, she had been home for over a decade, which happened to be longer than the time she had been in the classroom pre-family.  In sitting down with her to discuss key initiatives in education, the buzz words to use in an interview, the technology that had become second nature to me, and local and state assessments, I realized just how much had happened in the last ten years.  Like many educators, I had been diligently working in order to learn and grow and do, so I didn't often pause to think about how far education had come and how far I had come as an educator.  Fortunately, this conversation with this colleague of mine gave me this opportunity. What dawned on me during the conversation that day is change can be difficult, and each of us takes a different approach to it.

This was an important reflection for me as I think about my role as a library information specialist.  As much as my job description states that it's about the research and the collection development, a great deal of my job has become the connections I make with my colleagues and coaching or supporting them in the classroom. Each one of them is so unique in regards to their skill sets, interests, and personalities.  So when the next big thing comes along--Breakout EDU, NoodleTools, PBL (project-based learning), 3D printing, etc.--I need to really think about the best way to support change.  I happen to be one of those bold people who is willing to "go big or go home" and dive in. But for others, it needs to be about taking those smaller steps and getting more support from the iCoaches and myself in the beginning.  It's vital that anyone in a more supportive role for educators carefully examine where an individual is in regards to their skills, knowledge, and comfort level, and provide the necessary scaffolding for success.  If we don't and the whole thing falls apart, an individual is much less likely to try that again--and can you blame them?

As Tony Robbins notes, "Change is inevitable.  Progress is optional."  Progress looks different for each of us--different starting points, comfort levels, targets.  But to move education forward, we have to be willing to embrace change and move outside of our comfort zone to ultimately benefit the most important part of the equation--our students.

Take a Break

On Sunday, January 3, I saw the all-too-familiar posts on Facebook--sobering realizations from my Facebook friends that winter break was coming to a close, and the time had come to head back to work and school. Along with these posts, people included humorous videos and memes that captured the hyperbolized emotions of this impending event.  One favorite among my own family was this cute little girl who couldn't even open her eyes as she forced down her cereal before heading off to school:

My boys, 4th and 5th graders, both giggled and said this was the perfect example of how they would be feeling on Monday morning.  (Fortunately, it wasn't quite this bad. They might have actually opened their eyes as they consumed their clementines and protein bars.)

As for me, the one that spoke most to me was this video, which was posted as the response to the all-too familiar question for educators: "What work did you do over break?"

Break. According to Merriam-Webster, a break is defined as "a respite from work, school or duty." The problem is that for those in education, a break becomes a chance to catch up or get ahead--grading a hefty stack of papers or projects, reading those professional books or journal articles that sound amazing but you haven't gotten to yet,  or even meeting with colleagues to do some lesson planning at a coffee shop.  With rapidly evolving technology and increasing demands in the world of education, educators' breaks just become our time to complete work without too much more work piling up.  It's an opportunity to finally get our heads above water to take a breath of air.  As you can see, though, using a break to work really isn't a break at all.  And I've been as guilty as the rest of my colleagues when it comes to breaks.

As any educator knows, teaching is an emotional job.  We work with children, so we can't help but form bonds with them that we carry with us beyond the school day--playing and replaying that interaction with a struggling student that didn't go well, thinking about how to help a student that just faced a family tragedy, or coming up with ways to get through to a student who seems unreachable at times.  All of this thinking and strategizing often occurs for me on the drive home, as I'm preparing dinner, or on the treadmill--on my time.  As a result, when I'm working, I'm working almost around the clock.  (I have even solved a few conundrums in my dreams.)  

So when winter break came around this school year, I finally decided to allow myself a break. No checking my e-mails obsessively.  No lesson planning.  No professional reading--just reading for fun! After 18 years in education, I finally took two weeks to enjoy my family, see friends, celebrate the holidays, and decompress.

This year's true break from my job left me well-rested, refreshed, and excited to go back to work today. I realized that my old way of approaching break--working in order to get ahead--didn't really help me get ahead at all.  Sure, it might give me a few weeks of plans or a smaller pile of papers to grade on my desk, but I missed out on time with others and time for myself.  It's no surprise, then, that in the past I came back to work still feeling a bit drained or overwhelmed.  Fortunately, I can report things are quite different this year; this year I return to school supercharged, raring to go, with a clear head, a sparkle in my eye, and without a lick of guilt when someone asks me "What work did you do over break?"  A simple two-week break provided me the energy, clarity, and enthusiasm I need to conquer the challenges that await me.  Bring it!