They say with age comes wisdom. Now that I have been an educator for 26+ years, I have learned so much, and realize there is so much I wish I had done differently. I know that throughout my career, I was doing the best I could with what I knew then. However, knowing more now, I’d like to share some of my hard-earned wisdom with my younger self at each stage of my educational career. Enjoy the pictures as I stroll down memory lane!

Advice to my younger teacher self:

• Consider how to incorporate more student voice into your classroom decisions. Use students’ interests to plan projects!
• Use more rubrics, and have the students help co-create them.
• Read foundational skills reading research.
• Use asset-based, growth mindset language in your classroom with students and in your self-talk.
• Research competency-based assessment and apply it.
• Be proud that you became a better teacher than you had in most of high school.

Advice to my instructional coach self:

• Use asset-based, growth mindset language with teachers.
• Establish success criteria for the work of an instructional coach and make it public.
• Recognize the expertise in the room; the room is always the most powerful teacher.
• Professional development can take on many shapes, sizes, and structures.
• Connect your work around student talk to competency-based assessment.
• Be proud of the professional book clubs, learning walks, and coaching cycles you facilitated and the relationships you built.

Advice to my principal self:

• Conduct listening circles and empathy interviews with students and families to learn more about the community and their needs. Don’t assume you know what they need.
• Establish a student council/leadership group to bring student voice into decision-making.
• Schedule regular meetings with bargaining unit representatives (Certificated and Classified).
• Visit other schools with teachers to see instructional innovations in action.
• Be proud of the positive school culture and the relationships you built, as well as the way you bucked traditional visits for state audits and incorporated lesson study instead.

Advice to my director self:

• Trust the process. Good work takes times.
• Conduct listening circles and empathy interviews with students and families to learn more about the community and their needs.
• Organize visits to other school districts with groups of teachers and principals to expand the thinking around what is possible.
• Take the learning from your past selves above to use more rubrics, bring in competency-based assessment, foundational skills research, and asset-based, growth mindset language with students, staff, and families.
• Be proud of all of the graduates of the Aspiring Administrator Academy you created who are now Assistant Principals, and all of the mentors from AAA who are now principals.

Hindsight is always 20/20. While I didn’t know all of these things at the time, I did the best I could with what I knew then. As I know better, I do better. As I learn, I grow and evolve. I also wanted to include a note of pride for myself, because I was doing good work throughout my career. It’s important to reflect on our strengths as well as our growth areas.

Advice to my current educator self:

• Appreciate working with an incredible team!
• Change takes time, patience, resources, support, rationale, research, and lots more time and patience.
• Remember your why and your values.
• Celebrate the bright spots often!
• Be proud of the relationships you have built and your continual goal to visit every classroom and write educators personal notes.

One of the challenges of being an educator is that almost 100% of your colleagues and your “clientele” (families) have all been through their own school experience and they bring with them certain expectations of how school should be now because of that. These beliefs can make change very complex in any educational setting. One of the best parts about being a life-long learner and an educator for almost 30 years is the joy and possibility that each new school year brings. We have the opportunity to improve upon our work year after year. I still get excited for the first day of school. I’m still happy to discuss professional books with colleagues that inspire me to think and act differently as a result. I’m still immensely grateful to have a career I love.

“Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” ~ Anonymous