Teacher in-service day is the only day when there is enough time for a teacher to leave the school building and have lunch outside. I had invited my small team of core teachers to a nearby small cozy restaurant. The five of us (we missed the one away at a conference, and one visiting a doctor) continued the morning meetings around the lunch table. Without an agenda and expected outcomes we told funny stories, sad stories, unbelievable stories, and inspirational stories form our present and past teaching. We laughed. A lot. Hopping over puddles we laughed on our way back to school. This is a way to end the school week. With a cake and laughter.
It was a good week, not perfect, including some upset students and upset teachers and upset parents, and some tired mornings, unfinished tasks, a cancelled performance. The saddest moment, the news about AKR's death. Still, the week had lots of good in it - creativity in drama games, commitment in learning division, fun in script writing, calm independent study time, books finished and new started, emails answered, a nap on a train, the sun warming my back, a first tiny snowdrop stretching out from the soil, and a slice written every day of the week, hugs, happy birthday to dad, mom sleeping over, two older daughters coming home for the weekend.
"This too shall pass," shared the same wise colleague when one of the teachers told about some struggles.
The week has passed already. The bad has passed. The good has passed. The good moments I will carry along in my memory. These I celebrate.
I hope you had some cake this week.
So true about lunching out! A rare occasion for a teacher. Your writing was truthful and poignant. I loved this optimistic line, "This is a way to end the school week. With a cake and laughter."
ReplyDeleteSuch wise words. We do carry the happy memories with us as we let the sadness slip into the cracks of our lives. I hope your weekend has lots of happy = SOL kinds of happy = moments!
ReplyDeleteLunch out - such a great way to celebrate with friends and a rare opportunity for teachers! It sounds like your week definitely had its ups and downs, yet there was much to celebrate. Enjoy the weekend!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you guys had a blast!! I love days like that, where you can leisurely just chat and get to know people rather than meeting to get things done. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the way you tie the week up and put a bow on it. Enjoy your daughters being home.
ReplyDeleteRead AKR link...she would be happy that you had cake! Fitting way to make a meeting a party, too!
ReplyDeleteLunch out! Only other educators can appreciate the joy this brings to a teacher heart. Love, love, love your paragraph that acknowledged the week wasn't perfect, but had lots of good in it. Tucking this quote into my writer's notebook: "The good moments I will carry along in my memory. These I celebrate."
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful leader you are to make this lunch happen for your colleagues, Terje. Have a great weekend continuing the celebration with your daughters!
ReplyDeleteTerje, life with colleagues is well spent when community is being built and that you are doing quite well. Thanks for sharing the article about AKR. It is such a lose. Thanks also for the positivity in celebrating your week of ups and downs. http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2017/03/march-musings-18-celebrate-your-life.html
ReplyDeleteA perfect kind of meeting! I'm in! I love the connection you have with your team.
ReplyDeleteI love teacher work days not only for time in my classroom to think about instruction, furniture and reflection but also for the lunch not in the teacher's lounge.
ReplyDeleteDessert makes everything a celebration. Sometimes the best meetings are held around a meal. It is always nice to get out of the school building with colleagues if only for a little bit.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to be able to truly connect with colleagues over an unhurried lunch hour.
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Lovely celebration. Dessert always makes things better. :-) Time with other teachers like this really does make a difference.
ReplyDeleteA meeting without any required outcomes...now that sounds like freedom!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how lunch out with colleagues can make everyone happy?! And everyone loves cake! I love how you've reflected on the good and bad this week, but chose to celebrate it all.
ReplyDeleteI always felt like a real person when I could leave campus and eat at a restaurant. I do like the idea that it will all pass, the good and the bad. It will also all come back to make a visit again. The good times will roll again.
ReplyDeleteI do think that every meeting should have cake. Good cake!
"....a first tiny snowdrop stretching out from the soil..." Lovely, lovely Terje. I often think when someone says this too shall pass, of all the good that is passing. That is the reason for celebration!
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy those PD lunch out days, they are few and far between. My district has discovered that providing lunch keeps us in the building and they don't have to give us as much time.
ReplyDeleteI need to remember the This too shall pass as yes, that would help to get through a couple of classes.
Sounds like you had a very productive and reflective meeting.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I love the quote you opened with- most definitely true! This is a good reminder that both feelings will pass, which makes it all that more important to savor them while we can. There are lessons in both.
ReplyDeleteI love how you looked for the good, even when faced with situations that were challenging.
ReplyDeleteWell-written; I loved how you packed so much into your third paragraph and didn't "blow it up." Love those in-service day lunches! "This too shall pass"--a favorite of my mother, I could hear her voice when I read it in your closing. Happy week!
ReplyDeleteThis too shall pass...and then there will be cake! Loved your point of view, Terje.
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