Happy Summer

"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful."

~Margaret J. Wheatley

I haven't written a new blog post in quite awhile. I tend to do most of my writing from a place of reflection, often as a way of preparing for the future. Writing about things "in real time" is not something I've ever found to be very helpful, and of all the things the past year has been, it has certainly been "in real time". Instead of writing new material, I found it helpful to look back at some of my old blog posts to see what was on my mind or impacting our building during similar points in the school year before any of us had ever heard of Covid-19, and it was somewhat comforting to see that in many cases, it was the same types of things, just on a different scale and within a different context. 

I think that with everything feeling so foreign for so much of the last 14 months, I wanted to be reminded that once you strip away some of the window dressing of masks, block schedules, and social distancing, what we do here has remained fundamentally unchanged. We are still seeking to engage and inspire our students. We are still seeking the answers to questions about motivating the unmotivated. We are still struggling to figure out what our specific role is with so many of our students, often feeling more like surrogate parents or social workers than teachers.

During the last days of school, I am always overcome with conflicting feelings of excitement. Half of me is very excited about Summer Break. Like so many others, my family is looking forward to some fun in the sun and making memories. I am absolutely looking forward to a much slower and quieter pace of life for a couple of months. At the same time, I'm also excited for the start of next school year. I'm excited to implement the plans we have made. I'm excited for the feeling of renewal that comes with the freshly polished floors and spotless hallways as we begin a new school year. 

On top of all of those feelings of anticipation I get each year at this time, I have the additional excitement for the opportunity for every single teacher and staff member in this building to start a new school year feeling prepared for what lies ahead. I think the thing that made this year so incredibly difficult was the fact that we had no idea what to expect. Every day was a blindfolded adventure into the unknown. Sure, we settled into a nice groove in the second half of the year, but spending the entire first half of the year waiting to get blindsided again took a toll that has been hard to shake off. 

I've spent a lot of time reflecting on this year, and hindsight is always 20/20, so there are many things I would love to go back and change, but even through all of the hardships and stress, I never stopped being amazed at what this team was able to accomplish. I will forever be proud of each and every one of you for what you did here over the past 14 months. My hope for all of you is that this summer allows you to fully rest and reflect on all that has transpired. I hope that in this rest and reflection you can find peace and satisfaction in a job well done, and I hope that you return in August as excited about the future as I am. Happy Summer!