Ep. 91: Ringing in '26-'27... A Year of Possibilities

Well, I feel like I often, over the summer, when you encounter people that you haven't met before and you tell them you're a teacher, their immediate response is just so negative.

And I always have to go right back at them and say, no, it's actually the best job in the world.

Oh, but what about the kids? I'm like, the kids are amazing.

So...

That's where I am.

Every year, I think I get more energized and more inspired when I'm just around the classroom watching teachers talk.

come back, you know, reinvigorated, but really the kids are just the best part.

So where I am is trying to help kids navigate what is probably the most challenging landscape that any generation has ever had for not just college, but the job market.

And so that's where I am right now.

What about yourself?

It's amazing that you say that.

As you're talking, I'm reflecting on where I kind of find myself.

And I feel like earlier in my career, I was very concentrated on making sure that I understood curriculum and that I understood content and I understood methodology.

And yeah, of course, I wanted to make connections with my students.

That was all part and parcel.

But I feel like there's been a shift in me.

And I think part of it is just getting a little bit older, having some more experience, having a little bit of wisdom from years, some hard-earned, hard-fought experience and wisdom that I feel like I'm able to settle into the relational part of working with teachers, working with fellow colleagues, working with students more easily and in more enriching ways now than ever before.

Not that I didn't have that, I did.

It was wonderful, but it's different now in some way that's maybe a little bit difficult for me to articulate.

So again, I don't know if it's a function of just me getting a little bit more gray hair or if it's just feeling so much more confident that I've seen the cycles of the school year over and over and over again.

And so my anticipation, almost like a quarterback who plays for a while and then the field starts to slow down a little bit and they can start to really see things that they weren't able to see earlier in their career.

I feel like that's kind of where I am, which is really a wonderful place.

for a lot of reasons.

And definitely because with the rapid rate of change that we are seeing, like you were mentioning, societally, with our students, culturally, but more importantly, as it impacts us technologically, being able to meet the moment, to me, is like the ultimate challenge.

So being able to take all that experience, all those years, all my energy, all my optimism, all my enthusiasm, and then also integrate, trying to make heads or tails of technology and how to help make that work and create an even better educational experience and classroom environment that's kind of where I am so it's a really long-winded answer and I know it's all over the place but that's maybe like I'm all over the place and and that's just reflecting that