Summerschool

Twenty years…yesterday I wrapped up twenty years in education.  Yes, there were tears and smiles involved in saying goodbye, letting go, decluttering and evaluating the previous 10 months.  By now I know so well and that I still not get myself under control when it comes down to moving on and detaching myself when it comes down to my job description.  It is what it is…people move on and surely in education.  Not just the young people you get the privilege to work with but also the professionals you work with.  Last night when I drove home I suddenly was completely overwhelmed by one of these sensations that I can very hard put into words.  But yes, it is the feeling that I signed up for I graduated from teaching college. This is what I was after… and yesterday it hit me right between the eyes and it was mind-blowing.

So I have taken myself the liberty to say a few things that I found out about teaching over the last two decades. 

Teaching is coming to terms that there will never be enough time.
Teaching is giving up your control now and then.
Teaching is dreaming that the best is yet to come.
Teaching is relying on technology and coffee machine.
Teaching is coming up with a plan D within seconds.
Teaching is wishing that you could do so much more for all involved.
Teaching is putting into action what you preach.
Teaching is never ever wishing to give up.
Teaching is empowering the young& less young minds.
Teaching is lifelong learning.
Teaching is believing that there is more than only one road to bring all to the final destination.
Teaching is dancing, singing and acting to get your point and message across.
Teaching is reflecting and assessing the past and aiming for a better future.
Teaching is putting things in the right perspective after reading between the lines.
Teaching is sleepless nights in order to have careless days.
Teaching is listening to everyone at any time of the day.
Teaching is exploring and going on great adventures.
Teaching is caring about those tiny little details that perhaps nobody might notice.
Teaching is picking up the broken pieces and putting them back together.  Endless times.
Teaching is giving others wings while you need be grounded.
………
TEACHING IS EVERYTHING AND NOTHING AT THE SAME TIME.

Some of these you for sure will be able to understand and others might be rather puzzling.  There might be even a few that you already have come across in other lists of certain jobs. That is okay and as I said this is my personal experience. 

Six years ago I said goodbye to a very special place to move on to an other special spot.  Both of them have given me so much.  Yes, there have been tears and very deep going & fierce emotions. This lady here has got a very outspoken opinion about what teaching can and should be about. It thanks to very diverse group of students and outspoken motivated and passionate colleagues that I do believe that education is the key to success.  Not that is easy to get by.

It still involves a lot of work and seeing past many hurdles in order to get done what you aiming for.  Oh yes, I have been challenged many times.  Not only by students but also by coworkers, mentors,  line managers, coordinators, heads, board members, pedagogical advisors, parents, psychologist, the government and last but not least also by society.

Nope I have not got a degree in magic potions or carry a magic want into my teaching habitat.  Not that I would mind to have sometimes some special forces to get through a rainy and rather gloomy day when nothing seems to work. 

That I have been given this school year to go on two major CPDs surely has given me a professional boost.  The first one was the four day leadership course that I did embark on with rather a big doses of skepticism. Not that I did question the course itself but rather me being one of the participants.  That I had to sacrifice one of my weekends due it made even a bit more challenging.

In the end I have to state that it for sure has given me a few insights on how leadership can work inside and outside a classroom.  That being an leader and being led are in a very close relationship and that friction is never far away.  I not only walked out of the building feeling rather refreshed but also wiser.  I have promised myself a few things while being on that course.  Some of these promises I am already trying to put into action.  It won’t be easy to keep all of them up at the same time.  Plus that I strongly believe that leading is also about empowering others.  So I am expected to have good days and some rather stormy days heading my way when it will come to this. 

But then the content of the second CPD ‘Mindfullness in schools’ conference, that I got to attend with my cool coworker U in the city that I will never grown tired of London,  might save myself and I.  Not that this will be a walk through the park either.  Mindfulness is surely not a novelty anymore but it does involve a lot of practice and hard work when it comes down to integrating successfully into a school.  Momentarily I am staring at my stack of Summer reads and some of them are mindfulness books.  I even also purchased and downloaded  the Budhify app on my phone.  If I wish to be the mindfulness teacher that I envision myself to be I will also have to make some promises with myself on that part.

The thing is that in a way I never have felt so refreshed at the end of a school year due to these two professional development opportunities.  Yes, I am planning to enjoy my well deserved Summer holiday.   I can’t wait to meet up with some of my friends and family and make so happy and intense memories that will add up to the mindfulness and ‘dolce far niente’ cocktail that I do hope to bottle up and get out in case of emergency in the school year ahead. 

So yes, I am very grateful for so many people and things that have happened to me over the 20 years.  Most of all I am very happy that I had the pleasure to have been taught by and also worked with some great teachers myself. People that have given me all that I now hope to pass on to the children that I get the privileged to teach and have under my care.  The imprint they left behind on my heart and mind is stronger than any education related study or regulations that I need to put into action. 

To wrap up this entry I opted to for using a song out of movie also the Y6 opted for to sing a song from  in their great annual production.  This is year it was that one song that so many know from that one movie called ‘The Greatest Showman’.  From now on there will be two songs that now stands for so much more than part of a major motion picture. One you will find at the bottom of this blong entry.  Those amazing students I will surely miss now that they move on to their secondary school but the song surely will make my heart beat faster and remind me of all those promises I have made myself. A teacher might now an then be also a showman but then I will be reminded as well of the words by the character P.T. Barnum says:’For years, I chased their cheers.’  When it comes down to leading I do not wish to chase for cheers of others but rather for matters. 

Have yourself all a great Summer.  Aim high when it comes down to making memories and hug the ones you love, live within the moment, fill up a high stemmed glass with champagne to celebrate, read a book that you always wanted to do, dance whenever you feel like it, book that spa treatment that your body screams for, call that one friend that you have not seen for a long time for an impromptu luncheon, do not forget to pack your passport or the sun protection when traveling abroad, wander through a museum that you have postponed to visit, look first yourself before putting a picture on Instagram,  sing under the shower,  look up in the sky once in a while and first of all remember rule #6 that I so much believe in: Do not take yourself so serious….because when it comes down to life lessons we only get one teacher and that is life itself and that is the greatest show on earth.  Embrace it, make it worth and share the wealth with others…and then it might end up being even beyond that.  Summer school can be the best preparation for the real thing...

http://www.jmlalonde.com/quotes-leadership-lessons-greatest-showman/