As an only child of an only child of two only children, my biological family can feel a bit smallish at times. That ain’t stopped me none, however! I am blessed to have a warm and supportive framily across two continents, to whom I could not be closer. I inherited some of those relationships from my mom as she taught me the value of a village so it isn’t surprising that I am raising my own only in the same way. What is wonderful and surprising is that I find same Hānai theme in my professional life.
Through a series of coincidences–if you believe in such–I have come across some amazing educators. We share many commonalities, and yet, are diverse in a way that would cause riots to break out on Facebook. Not only do we check in and support each other professionally, we have #squadgoals and find ourself spreading our brand of crazy, impactful HeartWork beyond our campuses to educators around the world.
So what’s the point of all this, you’re asking? First, to throw out some gratitude during this season. Having a group of understanding educators to vent to spares our families countless hours of listening to school-day tales while their eyes glaze over (yes, we notice)! Beyond the expression of gratitude and appreciation, I would like to encourage educators to seek out strong professional relationships. Too often we find ourselves alone in our classes, over-salting salted caramel lattes with our tears after some MeanParent email. Education can be brutal without a village, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You may have to put yourself out there and be the change. How about getting to know a teacher you hardly know, or writing someone on your campus a note of praise? You could also try to find groups of educators on other campuses in your district who you can share resources with. Or find educators across the world to Mystery Skype with! And find hashtags on social media that ring true with whatever your thing is, be it #SDGs, #SEL, #6thgrade or something else. I guarantee you’ll find your edumates, people you can double joy and halve pain with. And until you do, pop into our chats on Saturday mornings 9AM CET. You will find a group of extraordinary teachers, leaders, bloggers, authors, and mostly, wonderful human beings who are crazy about impacting the world through education!