I recently returned from an intensive workshop with about 100 professional educators from across the nation, all connected due to our intense desire to better ourselves and our profession. We are committed to participating in training academies and courses such as: TLI, the Teacher Leadership Initiative, which instructs teachers to become leaders in and around their classroom; MLT-WLT, the Minority and Women Leadership Training program which models itself like a Representative Assembly, where participants are encouraged to branch out and push themselves to run for "national" office at this conference after learning important social justice and leadership issues. My national union, NEA, has dozens of similar opportunities across the nation, and participants from all these were brought together for the inaugural NEA Alumni Academy, all graduates or current participants in these programs.
One of the things we studied was mentoring early career educators: those new to the teaching profession, those new to a different field of education, those new to a different building, grade level, location in education. We were asked to send a message to these educators, and my message was on REST. Do we get and take summers off? NO, but perhaps we should! My message was this:
In all classrooms, we need to remember the three Rs: rest, relax, and run away
All teachers need rest - be sure to sleep as much as you can! Too many papers to correct? Leave some for tomorrow and go to bed.
All teachers need to relax - keep those weekly dinner, drinks, golf, bowling dates. Enjoy yourself NOT being a teacher when you're not at school!
And all teachers need to run away whenever they can. Take a day, a weekend, a holiday and book that vacation. Put a sub request in, and do not pack any school work!
Like flight attendants tell us with oxygen masks, teachers need to secure their own plans, before helping others. Remember the three Rs and you're sure to have a great year. Welcome to teaching!
This is part of the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C., and while it resonates with me as a woman, I realize the word "women" can be replaced with "teachers" for a similarly powerful message. We DO need to step up, we DO need to participate, we DO need to lead.
I have much more to add to this, but now I must go to work. While my schools are not open, my work is ongoing, as I am my local union's 1st Vice President and we are going back to the negotiating table to attempt to collectively bargain a fair and appropriate contract with our school district.
Back to the "summers off" thought when I'm not working.
