Friday, August 7, 2020

Day 5:  COVID19  Pre-Planning - Reflections on Professional Relationships

I had planned on a different topic for today, but it seems so heavy for a day that feels light - I will hold that one until next week.

This morning I got to work and found a message from one of my former colleagues who is also a great friend.  She is retired now and glad to be, but she was checking in and sending her empathy for us still teaching - hearing from her was a great way to start my morning.   She was an amazing teacher who loved what she did and loved working with kids both as a math teacher and a coach.  She was a geometry guru and one of those teachers who always rolled her sleeves up and dug in to reach as many kids as she could.  She was always learning and growing and looking for better ways and resources  to hone her craft.  The profession really needs her right now, but she is enjoying retirement, and I am happy that she is off enjoying life - she deserves it!!!

Last night I talked with another former colleague that I worked with for the first 7 years of my career.  She and I both taught math, and we shared a love of reading.  We were both on facebook talking once again about books and sharing ideas and suggestions.  We are both reading/studying social justice issues right now, and we were sharing knowledge and specifics of Thomas Jefferson in light of our reading. She no longer lives in Atlanta, but this friendship and shared love of books has lasted through time and across states.

Yesterday afternoon one of my closest teacher friends in my district - we worked at 2 different high schools together and started teaching the same year - called me on MS Teams.  We got caught up on our personal lives and shared our pre-planning experiences so far this year at 2 different schools.  Our friendship started with the best story and has grown so much over the past 15 years - I am sure I will dedicate a blog to our journey at some point!  We had touched base over the months of COVID19 quarantine and interact on social media, but is was nice to see her "in person" even virtually.

The first day of pre-planning this week I texted back and forth with my friend who teaches in a neighboring county about what it was like to be back and what our school systems were doing.  There is a fair amount of added stress in her district right now, and I feel so much for her.  I met her through Twitter Math Camp and the twitter network a couple of years ago.  We are both transplants from the midwest, so we have that culture connection along with our passion for teaching math, and I love having friends in different counties in the Atlanta metro area to network with!

Through this past week I have been collaborating with a couple of teachers at my former school that I used to coach.  I connected one of them with my colleague here that is teaching the same content course since and sent an amazing activity on geometric proofs with uno cards.  The other teaches the same course right now, so we have agreed to stay connected and plan together this year.

One night this week on twitter one of my colleagues/friend in North Carolina posted and shared a cool journal writing activity she is giving to check in on and and monitor student well being.  We chatted about that on Twitter, and I thanked her for a book suggestion she gave me over the summer.  We did a zoom meeting to discuss the book "How to be an Anti-Racist" by Ibram Kendi.  We then also shared how our schools were handling this coming school year between different states.  I told her I wanted our department to do a book study together, and she made a great suggestion of "Weapons of Math Destruction" as a first book.  She was also someone I met through the Twitter math network and a conference last summer.  

Our Blaugust coordinator from Oklahoma reached out to me also no Twitter to things I have share in my blogs this week - it was great inspiration to keep blogging, which has also greatly enhanced my week of pre-planning.  It gives me structure to my day, reflection, and purpose in this crazy time.

My two algebra 1 colleagues/friends and I continued our 3-way daily texting throughout the week and all of its events - this kept us sane through the summer, and it has proven to continue to do so.

And lastly, I cannot express enough how therapeutic it has been to be around my colleagues this week even if it is mostly virtual or at a distance with a mask if a couple of us are in a room.  We are all used to being apart in the summers, but this past year was a longer stretch with being home for 2.5 months before summer and not reconvening even at the end of school.  

We are all stressed, crazy busy with little knowledge of what we need to busy with sometimes, worried about the kids and ourselves, but at least we are closer together.  We had all these feels the past few months too, but we were all isolated at home away from each other.  Now at least we can eat outside as long as we social distance (and we do), talk to each other one on one at a distance, and we meet together everyday virtually.  We bonded as a department last semester with two out on sick leave for weeks and having to scramble and then going through COVID19 in a new remote world.  It is nice to be back closer together and know we have each other.  Together we will get through this - together we are better!

So the theme for today is how important all of my professional relationships are to my career my journey of teaching.  This is not a full list, but what an amazing many for even just a week in!  The is absolutely no way I would have made it through this career without the colleagues I have worked and resulting friendships I have made along the way.

As teachers we need these connections, we thrive when connecting to others that share our passions.  I am fortunate to have found many of those connections.  We educate children - that is no easy task, and no one person does that alone with any effectiveness.   It takes us working together within our content area, across content areas, and also connecting on social media; now more than ever our support systems are critical.

To all my friends/colleagues with in the local, state, and national levels - thank you SO much for your collaboration in education, your friendship; this blog is for you.  The energy I derive from working and socializing with you keeps my passion going and enhances my career and my personal life.  

Three other positive things for today -

1.  It's Friday!!!

2.  Talked to my best friend in Minnesota for awhile today!

3.  Today is cat adoption day!!!



1 comment:

  1. I agree about the importance of relationships. The one you mentioned first hit home for me. One of my dearest friends retired this spring and she was always the one I could turn to to flesh out an idea, try something new with me, etc. I'm going to miss her.

    But I really love how inspiring this post is overall. We talk about "it takes a village" and I think that's true for our profession as well. I couldn't teach without my relationships - the in-person and the online. Thank you for being part of my PLN! :)

    And happy adoption day! :)

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