Gratitude

In a career that requires so much, it’s often hard to balance one’s personal and professional life. Teachers give so much of themselves inside and outside of the classroom and it’s easy to feel exhausted and out of touch with yourself quickly. Thankfully, some of us are lucky enough to know and work closely with teachers who seem to have struck a beautiful balance between these two parts of their life.

Christina Gonzalez is one of those teachers and I’m grateful each day that she’s my partner teacher. Christina and I teach together in the second grade inclusion classroom at KIPP: Lanning Square Primary. She teaches all our students but focuses especially on supporting our students with IEPs and other special needs. I’ve never met a teacher like Christina before.

She greets each child with a smile on her face and works tirelessly to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. She plans engaging activities and games for her small groups and takes advantage of every moment she can to reteach and review the skills her students need. She laughs and approaches each day with positivity and flexibility.

Perhaps most importantly, Christina does all of this while also raising a family at home. She spends evenings and weekends with her family at the park or going out to eat. Christina prioritizes time with her family and because of that she is a more balanced and loving teacher. She works hard but knows when to close her computer and focus on her family.

Being a balanced teacher, I think, is they key to sustainability in our career. So, I’m grateful for the way Christina inspires me to include and teach all students, but I’m more grateful for the way she’s shown me that teaching can be a lifelong career. She inspires to find ways to include and teach all students and to be a more creative teacher, but she also inspires me to rest and recharge.

My life as a teacher would not be the same without Christina and I hope we’re lucky enough to continue to teach and grow together.

Emily Greider, Lanning Square Primary