While I probably should have said, “No,” when opportunity two came along, I’m glad that I didn’t. Let me explain. This summer, I’m taking on a new challenge/responsibility with the HWDSB Summer Learning Program. Instead of being the Curriculum And Site Support Teacher for one camp, I’m now one of two Program Coordinators. This year, we have three different camps running out of five different sites, so this position involves overseeing the registration, ordering, training, and organization for these 15 programs. The last couple of months of school required a bit more balancing with these added responsibilities, but now that the summer is here, it’s nice to take on this new role and explore leadership in a different way.
I share this, for a few days before school ended, I was given another opportunity. I received an email asking if I wanted to be part of the Reimagining Wellness Writing Team. This is a two-week commitment at the beginning of the summer.
Maybe I should have said, “No.” My MS Teams Calendar for online meetings is quickly filling up, coupled with some important in-person responsibilities. Removing these 60 hours of writing and editing from my plate might have reduced some stress and eased a full calendar, but I just couldn’t turn this down.
- I’ve never been part of a writing team before. I wanted the chance to try something new.
- I’m passionate about Self-Reg, and Reimagining Wellness aligns so much with Stuart Shanker‘s thinking.
- This year, the team is creating a kindergarten component to Reimagining Wellness. As a strong advocate for play-based learning, I see an opportunity here to align the Kindergarten Program Document‘s pedagogy with the Board lessons.
- While there are independent aspects of this writing, there’s also a collaborative component. Being part of this writing team gives me a chance to focus on collaboration with a different team and in a different way than I do all year long.
So I’ve made a promise to myself to protect my weekends. I might answer a couple of emails and do some blogging (something that I don’t consider work), but I’m also going to read, spend time with family and friends, and enjoy the beautiful weather. These next few weeks might be especially full, but sometimes, the excitement around trying something new outweighs the balancing act of finding enough hours to make everything work. I’ve still managed to read six books since school ended on the 30th, so I guess that I’m making time somewhere.
Even with my current crazy schedule, I’m happy that I said, “Yes.” What are some of your maybe-I-should-have-said-no-but-I’m-glad-that-I-said-yes moments? No matter what different we each might embrace this summer, I hope that we all get opportunities to try something new: personally, professionally, or somewhere in between.
Aviva