Welcome to Keeping Teachers
Glad you’re here! Education, and being an educator, in today’s world, are increasingly hard to navigate. For all the decades, teachers have felt undervalued, under-supported, and under-inspired. Often that “under everything” at the core, is about not having a strong community of support or no one to convince you that you are in fact, not crazy for choosing to be in the field of education. Regardless of your work environment and situation, there are places and people that can fill up your oversized coffee mug with support and tactical tools to help you thrive. I want you to be successful and continue to share your gifts with the world.
Teachers leave the profession too early and sometimes for the wrong reason, I believe we all have some ownership in that and that together we can deploy some strategies and stretch some thinking to help new and experienced teachers thrive professionally.
I want to provide you with a perspective and a community that can keep it real, keep it relevant, and keep you coming back to a place where we can share experiences and then get resilient and practical so that we have the energy we need to keep giving our best selves to the world (or just the classroom!).
What makes Keeping Teachers unique is the perspectives from the lens I bring as a school principal. Hear me out. During Covid, I scoured the internet looking for ways to support teachers in a loving but get-it-together kind of way and I found hundreds perhaps thousands of sites and resources for teachers, by teachers. I found all the lesson plans, tips and tricks, and survival guides for getting through one more virtual lesson.
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I found all posts and videos about how to leave teaching and transition to a new career, how to handle politics, racism, and the emotional health of our LBGTQ population. I read all about the districts that were so grateful to schools for their service during covid, but had no intention of support their needs… I would go deep into comments and read about how teachers felt about the admin at their school and how we just don’t care or get it.. That was hard to read because there is truth to all of it.
Here is what I didn't find though…. I didn’t find one site led by a principal, walking alongside you during this journey sorting any of this mess out with you. Just like teachers, there are good principals, great ones in fact, and ones that should be looking for a new job. I’d like to consider myself some.
Ms. Leia was the most supportive person in my life when I really needed to be supported. We came from different culture, religion, and country, yet she was the ONE who took the risk and helped me and my family to be able to stay in UAE and not go back to my country where there is a war going on. As a leader, Ms. Leis is the principal with an open mind and open door, she’s always there to listen, help, and find solutions.
Shaza Ishak – UAE Ministry of Education Curriculum Teacher.