Leaving the Classroom to Engage Students More Deeply

If you had told me 27 years ago that I would leave the classroom early to start my own education business, I would’ve laughed. I was young and in love with my job, my coworkers, and working with my students. My own children were still under five, and I couldn’t imagine a life other than teaching in a traditional classroom. I was good at it.

And–at the risk of calling down the wrath of the gods for my hubris–I’m really, really good now. 

I have taught at least ten different English and Language Arts courses in my career – several for over ten years. 

I’ve worked with at-risk students, students with learning challenges, average students, and honors students. Many inspired and challenged me. And, of course, there were a few that had me questioning my life choices. 

I’ve had a LOT of classes as large as 30 students with student loads well over 170. I’ve had a scant few respite years with less than 90. I’ve taught multiple years where I had six sections of the same course, and a few years of teaching four different courses. I’m honestly not sure which was more exhausting. 

I’ve supervised several clubs – including the Gay-Straight Alliance, Mythology Club, and the Anime Club – and coached the STEP team. 

I was department chair, member of numerous committees, and the go-to person for technology issues. 

I taught through the terror and aftermath of 9-11, the uncertainty of the 2008 recession, the anxiety of Covid, and the horror and foreboding caused by school shootings around our nation (so many school shootings). 

But in the last several years, something shifted. I’ve always chafed at the controls the system put on my teaching. The curriculum demanded covering material, but I KNEW that depth mattered more than breadth. Teaching to the standardized test destroyed my students’ desire to explore literature and write complex, interesting analysis. And the final straw–the ability of just one parent to get numerous novels or short stories banned from the classroom meant to serve all students. The result was content watered down to the point where teaching critical thinking through literature became impossible. 

I realized I was facing an untenable choice: I could continue teaching in a system that made it impossible to do what I knew was best for my students because it meant a constant struggle with parents and administrators, or find a way to teach on my own terms. 

So I chose the second path. I knew that I could reach students more effectively, go deeper into material that matters, and truly individualize instruction if I went out on my own.  

As I look toward my last semester as a public school teacher, I could be coasting. But I can’t leave well enough alone. I’m still creating new units, modifying old ones, and tinkering with methods of tracking grades and behavior to encourage self-management and work ethic skills in my students. I’m even conducting an action-research project for my observation this year when I could have just said “come in and observe me.” 

Seriously. What’s wrong with me???

In all honesty, it's proof positive that I am, in my soul, a teacher. It isn’t just a job. It’s a vocation. And even though I’m leaving the public school system, I’m not leaving teaching. 

I’ve been pondering this next step for quite some time now. Years, if I’m being honest. And as I embark on this new step, I realize it’s a natural progression of everything I’ve been doing my entire career: 

• Having the most amazing mentor my first few years of teaching

• Completing a Masters in Classroom Technology when computers were just beginning to appear in schools

• Being chosen for and finding professional development opportunities that revolutionized the way I taught my students, like Reading Apprenticeship and The Modern Classroom Project

• Implementing and championing online instructional resources that demonstrated measurable gains in my students’ skills

• Even teaching online during the pandemic!

Every step has prepared me for working with students in a hybrid learning model. I am so excited to help students develop skills in deep reading, critical thinking, and analytical writing! As a parent, you can choose fully self-paced units you guide at home or have your students benefit from my personal feedback as they progress through those same units.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, please join my email list and be among the first to work with me as I build my business. I can’t wait to show you how much students can grow when they spend time deeply exploring texts that challenge their preconceptions of the world.