- Tremendous community support for education and the schools
- Innovation-we're always piloting new ideas
- Teacher leadership--while there's still room for growth here, we do enjoy a good amount of autonomy
- Adequate supplies, facilities, and good structure for success--generally we have what we need to do a good job (though we're always advocating for even more and better)
- Our own children enjoy the benefits of the good schools--while most of us can't afford to live in the town where we teach, we can bring our own children to this exemplary school system. My three sons all got an excellent education here.
- It's a beautiful town that people take pride in and care for
In three years, I plan to retire from full-time teaching. I want my last year to be my very best year of teaching, and as I approach that position, my goal is to move more and more towards the best possible service to every child--this means doing the kinds of detail work that makes a difference for children, their families, our grade-level team, school, school system, and greater educational environment
Of all the aspects of teaching, my favorite is anything to do with growth and betterment. I love analyzing the work at hand and working to improve what we can do. Fortunately, I work with many colleagues who are invested in the same pursuit so we often do enjoy the fruits of our labor--the efforts to make better. Of course, we don't always succeed, but we are willing to dissect issues when things are less than optimal to find out what we can do in order to do a better job.
So what does this mean for my three year exit plan.
Organization of Materials
My room is filled with awesome materials for teaching and learning. Over the next three years I'll best organize those so the person who takes my position will have what they need to do a good job.
Organization of Lesson Plans
I'll continue to update the curriculum websites so they can serve as a guide for anyone taking over my position. I'll also use those lesson plans for my future work which will include helping teachers, children, and schools in different ways.
Collegial Support and Advocacy
I work with amazing educators, and during my last three years I'll continue to advocate for the best possible teaching/learning communities and supports to help educators do their best possible work for students and families. In too many schools, the conditions for excellence do not exist. This has to change. Fortunately where I work, many conditions for excellence do exist, but there's still work to do. I believe that Massachusetts is on a good track when it comes to supporting teachers, and I will continue to write and advocate for this kind of good work and support for teachers throughout the country. When educators are well supported with conditions for excellence, students thrive, and when students thrive, our whole nation is a better place.
It's amazing to be at this point in my career. My career, like most people's professional careers, has been a journey of highs, lows, and in-between's. These last few years with the shared teaching model that I am apart of have been my best teaching years--I love what we can do as a team for children, families, and the school in general. This is very positive and a good way to end a long professional career as a classroom teacher. Onward.
