Introducing Celebrating Educators

Friday morning as I neared the school, I smiled as I thought about how I would be able to pull into the prime center lot parking reserved for parents. Little did I know that the parking lot was jam packed and I would actually be parking off to the side of the building along with other parents who had to be creative about finding a spot before escorting their kids in for the first day.

First we went to my 2nd grader's room to get her settled, and then I headed up to kindergarten. Diana instantly found her name on the table. I sat with her as she ate her breakfast, we sat on the carpet and read a couple of books, and I watched her play a bit before heading off for my comprehensive exam proposal. All the while, snapping away documenting the big day.

I pulled out of the parking lot with a mixture of emotions. It felt weird that for the first time in six years I was not in my own classroom welcoming in students and establishing a sense of classroom community. Yet, I was able to savor the start of the first day with my daughters, rather than rushing them to class, snapping a picture, and zipping back to my own class.

This year my personal career as an educator will be going a different route. Taking a year of absence from my regular position, I will be filling in as a sabbatical replacement teaching mainly undergraduate ESL and literacy courses. When trying to decide what I wanted to do, I emailed Penny Kittle, an educator that has always inspired me. She was kind enough to respond and had very wise advice, "I think it helps to consider what you still want to accomplish in teaching and how you can best do that. And then think about what you want to do beyond the classroom and how you can make that happen. All of the options have merit..." She also talked about the value of each position to provide avenues for growth as an educator.

Last year I thought often about what the future holds for me as an educator. As I read professional books, I noticed the background information about the authors - k-12 teachers, support staff, consultants, professors... As I was gearing up for the last year of my doctoral program, I was trying to decide what would be the most fulfilling as an educator - to continue being a classroom teacher or something else. Going back and forth frequently for many different reasons and hearing perspectives of various educators taught me one thing - there are so many ways to have a satisfying career as an educator, so many avenues to make an impact.

I am still fascinated with the stories behind the career choices educators make, hearing about their personal journeys. I thought others might be interested as well; thus, I decided to start Celebrating Educators. At different points throughout the year I will have guest posts from different educators sharing about their diverse backgrounds. The posts will typically be on Tuesdays, although, it might not necessarily be every Tuesday. It will be a way to celebrate that there is not one best career path, but rather various when it comes to positively impacting students.

The next three weeks will feature Penny Kittle, Troy Hicks, and Pat Johnson.