Inspiration for Teachers: What to Say to Teachers and Administrators Leaving Education This Year

  Welcome back, or if it's your first time here, welcome into my world. And this is a mini episode, one of my lunchbox love notes for teachers. It is Teacher Appreciation Week coming up. Before I get to the pressing topic that I just needed to talk to you and share some information about, which is this idea of what to say to educators who are leaving this year,  and a love note to anybody who is going through that agonizing decision.

So I will get to that. That's the focus of this mini episode. But first off in recognition of teacher appreciation week, you know, I feel like that's earth day, like, shouldn't we love the earth every day? Shouldn't we appreciate teachers every week? I just want you to know how truly valued you are by me.

And even if you don't know it, and even if they don't show it, you will be and are valued by parents and students. And I say will be because it might not be until years down the road in retrospect that they truly appreciate the impact, the reach that you have had, the positive,  Things that you have done for their child or for themselves if they're a student.

So even if you don't see that's one of the hard things right about teaching you don't we don't make  We don't make a product. We don't have the satisfaction of saying yes, I built that with my own hands sometimes it's we never know the ripple effect, but do not doubt your impact and Know that you are appreciated and loved Okay, now You  Here we go.

It is that time of year and for teachers who have made this decision to leave teaching, the end of the year is particularly bittersweet and teacher appreciation week. And so I want to give some support to the people who are leaving because I know from my own experience that That really is an agonizing decision.

It's not a decision that anybody comes to lightly. First off to the people who are staying. What do you say to people who are leaving? You may be panicked because let's be honest when one of your  teammates, whether it's in your department or your grade spam, when they leave, Who's going to fill that vacuum?

Even if, of course, a new teacher is going to get hired, hopefully a credentialed teacher,  not some string of substitutes because of the teaching shortage, but even if it is a credentialed, experienced teacher, which would be the best case scenario, it is still creating more work for you. It did. That's just a fact.

It's creating more work for you, right? You need to take responsibility. You will be handed this responsibility of making sure that this person gets up to speed, that they feel supported. Um, like I said, in the best case scenario, they're an experienced, respected educator. They still don't know the dynamics of your team and all those things.

So it does create extra work for you. It also may create anxiety for you. I remember I worked in a very small school. It was not the last school that I worked in. It's not the school I retired from, but I had worked in it for 16 years and there was a lot of political things happening and a lot of changing demographics in the, um, the area which we covered, decreasing enrollment, other schools, um, denying inter district transfers, a lot of things going on.

Anyway, It was like year after year we would see our teaching staff dwindle. People would leave, they wouldn't be replaced because the, um, the student population had decreased also. And honestly, it just, sometimes it felt like, you know, I was playing violin on the Titanic. You know what I'm saying. And when talented educators left, or even those who, you know, just were leaving for whatever reason, you just feel like, Oh my God, like, um, it is hard to hold something together to be one of the last people.

Feel like you're just, when you see a lot of people leaving. You feel like, do they know something I don't know? Um, you know, am I holding this thing together with duct tape? Am I just being stubborn, right? So there's a lot of emotions when your teammates leave. Okay, so I understand that.  But understand that nobody takes leaving education lightly, right?

And please just find a way to be supportive. Um, I'm going to give you some particular phrases that I found real helpful, but just understand that people need to make choices for themselves, right? When I left education, I had months before I left, and I had given my school a year's notice that I was leaving.

Um, Months of that whole year before I was teaching school and still sometimes now I have all kinds of nightmares of me leaving for lunch and then getting lost, you know, when you're driving your car and, and you just, the car isn't working and, and you've, you don't understand, like, the landscape has changed.

I'm so worried that, oh, kids are on the playground. I need to get back. Just this overarching theme of abandoning kids, right? And so it's hard enough to make those decisions to leave teaching. And you've got to respect that people need to make decisions that are best for them. Okay. Best for their emotional, mental, physical, financial health, right?

Decisions that are best for them and their families, right? So like I said, for most people, leaving education is not, um, an easy decision. Okay. So what are some things that you can say to people, even though you, you know, there was a lot of, Oh, you're so lucky, or I wish I could pull it off. And I never found any of that particularly helpful.

Um, you know, there are a couple of things you can say. One is. I'm sure you will find other ways to have impact, right? We all get into teaching because we want to have impact.  We don't get into it for, for the pay and the respect and the sums off, right? We get into it to have impact. So a kind thing to say  is I'm sure you'll find other ways to have him.

And then another thing that people said to me that honestly, I found very reassuring is that, you know, if you miss it that much, you can always come back. Right? It's not like a, Oh my God, this is,  I will never be able to return to education. That's not true. Like it really, if somebody chooses to leave and they really miss it, or it really doesn't work out for them one way or another, they can come back.

I don't see this teacher shortage going away anytime soon. So as long as you leave, you know, under good circumstances, right? Make sure that if you're leaving, you're not burning any bridges, then. You can come back if it's just doesn't work out for you that you left, um, you can come back. Maybe you, maybe you, I have a very good friend.

She left and then after a year of rest and reflection, she was like, you know what? I really miss this thing. I want to go back in a classroom. And she went back energized and having a totally different experience. Okay. So that can totally help. Two. All right. So, what if you made this decision to leave this year and you're worried about Teacher Appreciation Week, like it'd be awkward with parents when parents are asking, why are you leaving?

Always take the high road. Again, in case you want to come back and two, just because it's the right thing to do. It's be respectful for people who are staying behind. Take the high road. But I do want to share a quote with you. Because it's from my heart, and I have to tell you that your life will be easier when you leave teaching.

In many ways, for most people, you'll be working less hours, you will, um, have less stress, right? It's one of the reasons a lot of people want to leave. And I will tell you, without a doubt, your life will be easier when you leave teaching. But, from personal experience, it won't be as rich. It just won't. 

That's just a fact, okay? And that's something you're gonna have to live with. But here is a beautiful quote. Um, it's really often, um, you know, attributed to the wrong person, but I'm gonna share it. Um, it's often attributed to Scott Fitzgerald. Because it comes from, um, his short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but it's not actually in the book.

It was from the screenplay. So I would like to give credit to Eric Roth, who wrote the screenplay. So he actually wrote these words. Okay. And so if you're leaving, and even if you're staying, it's a beautiful quote for everybody. And here's what it is.  For what it's worth, it's never too late, or in my case, too early.

To be whoever you want to be. There is no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it.  I hope you make the best of it.  I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before.  I hope you meet people who have a different point of view.

I hope you live a life you're proud of. And if you're not I hope you have the courage to start  all over again.  So if you are leaving.  It does take courage and I really, really wish you the best. And if you feel left behind because lots of people on your team are leaving, understand people have to make the decisions that are best for them.

My heart is with all of you. You can all have impact, no matter what. You can all learn to have a positive experience, no matter what. So until next time, enjoy Teacher Appreciation Week, whatever it brings you. Create your own path and bring your own sunshine.