It Does All Begin With a Relationship!

This past week, I had the wonderful opportunity to reconnect with some very dear childhood friends. These fabulous women were celebrating their mother’s 80^th birthday. Because we have known one another for over 40 years, we immediately started boasting of our wonderful families and surely lamented about the life’s difficulties--but once we were caught up, we quickly turned our conversation from our families to our chosen professions. Only one of the 6 ladies was a teacher, the others all chose a different path, and I was deeply intrigued about their careers. As I sat and listened to them speak passionately about their craft, I was pleasantly surprised to discover some of life’s lessons that every educator should embrace.  My take-aways from those genuine conversations were the following:

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          It does all begin with a relationship. It’s not just a “teacher thing”! My friend, Lori, is a nurse. She passionately talked of the importance of spending a few minutes with her patients to connect and make them feel comfortable. She attributes her success as a nurse to taking the time to get-to-know her patients and treating them with dignity and respect-- always! In the school setting, the same is true; treat every person that you encounter with dignity and respect.

·       Celebrate and honor people! Nancy, the youngest of the bunch, works for a company where she plans events to recognize and publicize the achievements of the employees. They coordinate incredible events to celebrate, highlight and reward people who give it their all. Who doesn’t like to be praised and celebrated? Our schools should be filled with positive celebrations and events to recognize students and staff that reach for excellence!

·       Know when to pull the plug on something not working. Amy is a project manager of a global company and she talked about the importance of research and development. All good ideas need to be explored, tested and improved. When a project wasn’t working, even after countless hours of labor, you have to reflect and decide what to do next—improve, change or pull the plug on it.  In a classroom, this advice would go a long way in improving instruction. Don’t spend inordinate amount of time on something that isn’t working.

·       Be reflective!  Jenny is pursuing a career change and is becoming re-acquainted with the interview process. After so many years being successful in a position, she is confident of her abilities, but in an interview, people only get a glimpse of who you are. It’s important to know your audience and what they are looking for. Be reflective.  Your first impression can make it or break it for you. In the classroom, teachers need to know their audience. They should create opportunities for meaningful learning and make adjustments as necessary. Great teachers continuously reflect on themselves.

·       People are precious! Monica recognizes the importance of producing a finished product, but cautions that working with people is fundamentally different than working with raw materials. People need a human touch—and possibly a different approach. Every person is different and therefore your “process for production” needs to be individualized. The most successful businesses are those who adapt to the needs of the people. In education, we should differentiate instruction and professional development based on individual needs to maximize success.

·       Be Proud of your accomplishments! Chris raised 7 children as a widow. I am certain there were times that she questioned “why me?”, but her faith guided her to move forward and fill her home with positivity and love. Today, she has such a great sense of pride in her accomplishments—her children. Although she quickly points out that her children are very different than her, she wonders at the incredible people that they have become and share in their accomplishments with delight.  As educators, we recognize that we help to shape our students, but their paths may be very different than we imagined. Take joy in knowing that you helped them to become who they are!

It is a breath of fresh air to step outside of the education world and connect with other people who impassioned about their careers. Schools are not a business, but there are many lessons in other professions that can teach us about educating students. Whatever you career path is, these life lessons make the world a better place!