Dear TeamTowne Advisory... or Wonder Women: The End of a Era

To My Wonder Women...

Advisory is a double edged sword.  There are wonderful things like: community and friendship, built in support mechanisms, parent outreach and connection, being the school mom. Then there are things that make it not so wonderful: small group dynamics, 4 years with the same people, being the school mom.

Prom was a couple weeks ago (complete with a surprise appearance by Shristi who moved away after junior year to Virginia) and it was such a gift to celebrate and watch them enjoy the night!


#TeamTowne made plans to celebrate the end of the school year. I proposed taking them to dinner and Wonder Woman. None of them had seen it yet and they all are fully aware of my WW obsession. It was not a hard sell. We shared pizza at Patsy's then headed over to the Regal. We filed into our row, snacks in hand, and settled into our seats. 

I sat on the aisle of our row in the huge movie theater and as Wonder Woman began her first huge reveal in the movie: crossing no man's land, I turned to my right and was overcome with emotions. There sat 7 of the 9 remaining members of Team Towne, my all-girl advisory of the last four years. There were some of the most incredible women, no longer girls, that I have helped to shepherd through high school. Their faces glowing, I was so glad I was able to share something that means so much to me, with them. 

At the end of the movie, we were walking out and Linda was wiping the tears from her eyes. I stopped to tell them, how proud I was of all of them and I began to cry... and one by one they surrounded me with hugs, tears and love. 

 These moments of joy and celebration far outweigh the frustrations that can cloud ones perspective when working with teenagers. I am not a parent, but advisory is by far the one of the hardest experiences of the last 4 years. It does indeed take a village to raise children. I'm honored to say that I was able to contribute in some small way to the evolution of these Wonder Women. 

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Yesterday was the second commencement exercises of the Academy for Software Engineering.  While two of my girls almost didn't make it in time, in the end all 9 members of Team Towne walked across the stage.  I could not be more proud of each of my babies, now grown, women, who are ready to take on the world.  

So today, I leave you with this: 

Dear Team Towne,

I am a better human because of the time I have spent with you.  You have been my constant over the last four years.  You have been the faces I have always come back to in sickness and health.  You have pushed me to become a better teacher, a better leader, a better woman, a better human.  I have watched as you learned to navigate not only the hallways of high school but of corporate America in your numerous internships.  You have fought like sisters and loved like family.  In the end, I know you always have each-others backs. 

One by one, you have come in this morning to pick up your diplomas and final report cards. I had made it through the entire day yesterday without tears, but today, knowing that this is the end of one leg of your journey as you begin the next the tears have come.  While I know your tears are about missing, please know that my tears of of pride and joy for the Wonder Women you have all become.

Enjoy the next leg of your journey &
TeamTowne4Eva! 💜🎓 

Love,

Ms. Towne

Day 3: 2017 April Blog A Day Challenge - Professional Mentoring

Prompt: What role has professional mentoring played in your teaching career?

Image via Here (Also a great article!)

Today, my field supervisor for my graduate program came to observe me working with one of the teacher teams I am coaching this semester. Because half of the team was out with the flu, it was 1:1 coaching time!  It can be a double-edged sword.  Is there going to be enough to discuss with one teacher instead of two?  Is the teacher going to have enough autonomy in the pair to make decisions and keep the work moving forward? As we began the work together, all the while being watched by a field supervisor I had met only an hour earlier, the discussion flowed. We dug into thinking about the development of the new mastery skills for the upcoming unit.  The thinking the teacher was doing was exciting to experience and as a coach, it pushes my own understanding of the process of developing mastery skills for content outside my expertise.  

I share this story because it is an important reminder for me about the importance of coaching and mentoring to support the development of teacher capacity.  I have had a number of coaches and mentors over the years- Marci and Courtney have been the most pivotal in the context of teaching English.  My current administration- a team of three that have each made themselves available to me to be think partners as well as critical evaluators of my work and development as a leader. 

Day 2: 2017 April Blog A Day Challenge - Teaching Wins: Growth

Prompt: Teaching Win: Where have you grown the most this year?

I am in my last semester of completing my a second MSED in Leadership (School and District).  There are a multitude of moving parts this year both in and out of the classroom as I fulfill graduation requirements as well as course work on top of keeping up with the day to day teaching of three different English classes.  Needless to say, it is a lot and I am working far beyond my capacity.  I knew this year would not be my best work in the classroom, but I always go into an experience hoping to learn, stretch my thinking, and leaving with new insight into the hows and whys of any job I am doing.

Image via HERE

This semester I am working with a Algebra II ICT co-teaching partnership.  The pair are an exceptional example of strong ebb and flow when it comes to team teaching.  The content teacher, a young woman in her second year, joined out staff this year. In addition to asking her to take on learning the new CC Algebra II curriculum, we also challenged all out teachers with continuing to design and integrate mastery based assessment and learning into their practice.  

Working with teachers outside of my content is always something that I have felt less than comfortable doing. I also always wondered about (questioned/challenged?) the ability of a school leader to effectively coach/observe teachers who did not share their content.  In making the move to work with a team outside of my content area this semester, it has already begin to help me to grow and see how my 10 years of experience as well as the work I have done in #TTOG and moving to MBA has made me a strong thinking partner for the pair.  It is exciting to see their thinking and evolution and hearing the great questions they have about MBA in their own practice.       

So, for me, this year I think my greatest area of growth as an educator has been in gaining a new awareness of the power and possibilities of coaching and how truly successful coaching is about unlocking and helping to develop potential. 

Day 1: 2017 April Blog A Day Challenge

Prompt: Glows: What are your greatest strengths as an educator?

Image via HERE

Saturday mornings, my husband and I order bagels from our favorite place in the neighborhood.  As some of you know, New Yorkers take their bagels very seriously--almost as seriously as they do their pizza, subway riding, or sidewalk etiquette. They only deliver on Saturdays, so it has become ritual over the last 11 years.  As a teacher, I know there are a million other things that I could (should?) be doing, but nine times out of ten, Saturday mornings are for us. 

I share this story because I believe one of my greatest strengths as an educator has come with experience and time but happens out of the classroom.  It is my ability to take the time to reflect, refresh, and regroup.  The Saturday mornings do just this.  While there is a pile of papers to grade, lessons to plan, and hours to be logged for my apprenticeship, I know it will be there later and it will get done. If it doesn't, well, frankly that's ok.  I find transparency about our humanity is one of the greatest lessons teachers have to offer students.  "Hey class, I need a few more days.  My apologies." They get it. They have been there too and it's ok.

What do my kids, high school students -- this year grades 10-12-- learn from my humanity? They learn empathy.  They learn that I too struggle sometimes and it is ok.  They know how hard I work because I tell them! But they also learn that it is ok to struggle, work through things, be tested, grow and learn because they learn from the example that is set. So, order your bagels, have a morning with your family, and remember that time is what you make of it.

Image via HERE