This is my friend Joanie, and the best teaching partner I ever had. Joanie and I worked together my second year of teaching, and it was an absolute joy. Even though I was brand new to the profession, and she'd had years of experience, I never once felt like I wasn't her equal. I learned so much working with Joanie. Her teaching style and mine just clicked. We had the same philosophy about kids and teaching, and we both loved our job. And we had the greatest time writing report cards together {you don't often hear a teacher say that!}. We'd make a day of it, hang out at her house, heat up frozen burritos, write some comments, add up some marks, laugh, chat, and write some more. I loved working with her, and was sad to say good-bye when she moved to Vancouver several years ago. We've seen each other a few times since, and yesterday was one of those times. What a great visit we had! Short but oh-so sweet. Can you tell?
Just like a teacher when you were a child, a really good teaching mentor will stick with you for life - you will always remember.
ReplyDeleteI too was fortunate to have just such a mentor at my first school, so lucky.
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