Today was for the most part my last day before starting a new job in another school district. I am excited for this new opportunity and the next set of challenges I am going to face. This is not the first time I have changed school districts. However, in the past I was a classroom teacher and now I am experiencing the transition as an administrator.
The feelings are the same regardless of whether I experienced the transition as a classroom teacher or administrator. Just like it was bittersweet because I was not going to be able to continue working with a group of kids I established relationships with, the same goes for teachers I have had the pleasure to work next to every day for the past four years. Heading into this last week I was not sure as to how I would feel about walking out of my office for the last time. I have been part of some terrific initiatives and programs and will miss not seeing firsthand these ideas continue to grow. As the days dwindled, memories about the past four years were about people and not about any program.
These past few days have been a subtle reminder of how much education is about the relationships you establish with students, parents and peers. So much of public discourse about education is focused on how to "fix" the system. I certainly agree that the system needs be altered and potentially radically altered to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global society. I have posted numerous times on this blog thoughts about what I would like to or think should be changed. Still at its core, education or school is about building trust, developing empathy, showing compassion and being committed to something or someone. Without these core elements in place, no paradigm has the chance to prosper.
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