I came into teaching after college as one of those "I'll teach in an urban area for two years, then migrate elsewhere." Yet, it is now year four and while I've seen many of my OTF cohort move onto new fields, I'm still here and I see myself staying put.
Only an hour ago, I was in a staff meeting. The principal presented recognition to our freshmen house and shared the new resources we're receiving because of the work we've done. I heard of schools across the nation looking to replicate a form of our model to better serve their student populations. The principal tells us we are the drivers of this school, we are the leaders in the culture change. I see it happening before my eyes.
In my first two years, staff meetings were not nearly the same. There was no direction nor purpose to what we did. There was virtually no positivity and way too much gritching (grief + bitching). A sliding door of principals and assistant principals led teachers to create their own solutions. What we see now is a blend of those teacher-driven projects with an administrative team whose finally got vision. It's refreshing and validating.
As I said in previous posts, there's something special in the air. I realize the benefit of teaching in an environment already well-established and conducive to student learning and teacher sanity, but undergoing and contributing to the process of the creation itself is something inspiring. My high school is still an ongoing project, but it's on the rise. I can sign off as witness to it's evolution and as a piece of it's legacy.
I realize the rainbows and butterflies and cliches I've presented in this post, but whatever - I've allowed this blog to be my go to spot for teaching thoughts and this is what I've got now. Holla.
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