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Laureen Kuwaye was a seventh grade teacher at Giano Intermediate School when she told this story. She is currently a science and math teacher at Giano.

For me, my really big epiphany came during the Network Days when I saw how much importance my colleagues put on literacy. This importance may not be reflected on a daily basis, but we all are on the same page with getting kids to be readers.

I didn’t go into the Network Days with any expectations. Instead, I went in with what little I know as a classroom teacher. I know what I know, and I’m open to those things that I don’t know. I was open to hearing other people’s perspectives, because a lot of times, you go into these meetings thinking, “This is the one cure-all.” And it’s never the one cure-all. But then when you hear the different perspectives from others, it hits you. You say, “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,” or “I wasn’t thinking that way.” The norm in our groups at the Network Days is always to be open to different perspectives. That was a really big eye opener in that we truly believe in this as teachers.

The time away from the classroom to talk to our other colleagues and have those professional conversations is priceless. I think that’s the most powerful and effective communication that we could ever have as teachers. Being allowed to think out of the box, to challenge point, to be able to say, “What about this,” or “What about that?”

I’m also on the restructuring committee for the district. We’ve had to consider how we do this work better with less. The new school year coming up poses a big transition for us, however, it leads us back to the core of teaching – without all the technology, with just a pencil and paper. We have to find our love and passion for teaching again, and then learn to roll with the punches and the budget crisis, having fewer resources, but still maximizing the time with the students – motivating both them and ourselves.

There were no preconceived notions with the restructuring because we were going back to scratch. There was nothing we could fall back on. We only knew what we knew, so the principals came with their knowledge, and the classified came with their knowledge, and the certificated people with theirs. We were put in a room all together, and we said to each other, “Oh, I get to see your point and yours. I didn’t realize it’s not as cut and dry.” Then we thought, “How can these three groups work well together for the betterment of the students?” Sometimes we said, “Oh my gosh, I jumped the gun. I went too quickly and assumed too much.” Ball made us take a step back and reflect.

A lot of times, as teachers we go, go, go, and we don’t have time to reflect. That can do more harm to the students than just taking five minutes to reflect. You have to know your students and realize, “From where we are, I need to stop and redo this so that it will be better later.” I look at this restructuring of the district in the same way. We’re getting to the point where we’re saying, “Okay, this is where we are, we need to back up – which will take time – but when we go forward, we’ll be so much more empowered as teachers and eventually our students will be empowered.” It brings it all back down to passion for teaching, and I think we have a lot of that.

I’ve also noticed that my teaching and interaction with students has changed as a result of this process. I sometimes forget that we may be the one adult that ends up reaching that kid. I hope that no kids get past me that I don’t have some kind of influence on their lives. Ball reminds us that there’s a gift in every kid – there’s a diamond in the rough. Sometimes we forget this, especially with the ones that challenge us the most – and they’re the ones that need us the most. We have this saying in the restructuring, “There’s a fire and then there’s a gift.” I don’t want to focus on the fire. I want to look at each student and think, “This is you.” It’s the core of teaching.

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