Colleagues in Education

This is a special post dedicated to all of my wonderful colleagues.  I shared it with them at the lovely party they hosted for retirees last night.


As most of you know, I'm rarely at a loss for words.  For better or worse, this occasion is no exception.  As most of you also know, this past year, I have been blogging about teaching kindergarten.  My blogspot which I've called Good-bye Kindergarten,  has been a place for me to share some of my favorite lessons, offer some tricks of the trade, and reflect on my long career in education.  Tomorrow, I'm going to publish a short, new post.   This post is entitled Colleagues.  Now, all of you dog lovers out there, DON'T get excited; I said "Colleagues."

I became a teacher because I've always loved kids.  Kids make me think and make me smile.  I really believe that most teachers enter the profession for this same reason; we love kids.  But, in my case, I also became a teacher because I loved so many of my own teachers.  Now, to be perfectly honest, the teachers of my childhood were mostly very "old school."  After all, I grew up in the 1960s! All of my elementary school teachers were women, mostly unmarried women, and, as far as I knew, none had children of their own.  They seated us in rows of desks and taught straight out of teachers' manuals.  But I was fortunate to have teachers who were mostly skillful and approachable individuals.  And a few were actually creative.  I have a clear memory of my own kindergarten teacher allowing monarch butterflies to freely fly around our classroom.  This went on for several days.  And then, I just know this is true, a few weeks later there was a multitude of butterflies flying around that classroom!

So it was pretty much always my life's plan to become a member of this profession much esteemed by me, to become a teacher, a colleague in education.

As a teacher, my own colleagues have been very important in my life.  Two of my best friends on the planet were colleagues of mine at the very beginning of my career forty years ago.  We have carried on a conversation about education throughout all these years but also talked about marriage, raising children, health, politics, religion--all the stuff of life, really!  We've had fun together as friends do: going out to eat, watching movies and plays, and walking through gardens and forest preserves. They have always been there for me--we are BFF, for sure. Many of my more recent colleagues have become friends, as well.  We have enjoyed conversations and "dates" with one another.  And, when you have taught as many years as I have, you may have the special pleasure of becoming colleagues with parents of former students and, yes, these former students, themselves.

Colleagues have been friends and also cheerleaders.  You have rooted for me before I've made phone calls to certain parents. And you have rooted for me when I've engaged in conferences with the same certain parents.  You have cheered for me before I've been observed in the evaluation process.  And you have encouraged me to explore the ever-expanding universe of technology.

Colleagues have been friends, cheerleaders, and also members of a support group.  When things haven't gone so well and I've felt discouraged, worried or even clueless, you have made me feel better.  You have offered support with kind words, hugs, flowers, dark chocolate, and even emergency lesson plans and materials.

And while there are some technical distinctions between teaching colleagues and administrators, secretaries, school nurses, custodians, lunch ladies, and other staff members, these are often nothing more than technical distinctions.  I've been cheered, supported, and "Friended" and even befriended by so many of you.

Friends, cheerleaders, support groups, professional learning communities--colleagues in education are all of these.  And there is one more kind of relationship that I have felt between teachers, a really important one. That's a feeling of family.  When you stop to think about it, we see our colleagues more often than we see many members of our actual families.  We see each other on our best days and our worst days.  We compliment one another on a new outfit or hairstyle. We share many of life's pleasures like a favorite recipe, a crazy reality TV show, and a new book to read.  We comfort one another when we are dragging ourselves into school with a miserable cold. And, inevitably, we share life's sorrows and find compassion.  Yes, in my opinion, colleagues are like family.  And, as we know, families are all about love.

I'm glad to have been a part of this family for so many years and will carry your love with me forever.