70 x 7

We've been having some drama in the special education department recently among our staff. Things were said. Feelings were hurt. The situation was quickly careening out of control. In an effort to smooth everything over, our Dean of Intervention called for a meeting with all parties involved (including me) at 7:00 this morning. She talked about what "teamwork" meant and got input from each of us about what we needed to be a better team for a certain student that we all service.

She told us at the meeting that we need to leave the past in the past and to start to move forward. I applaud her efforts to reconcile the people involved. But it was like I was telling Max yesterday: "No one will be able to move forward unless they can truly forgive each other. And you can't make people forgive each other".

Then two separate incidents with the administration happened later on today which made me angry. It seems I've been angry often this month at the injustices of the education system. So angry, it keeps me up at night! One incident involved another proof that the administration wants nothing to do with our special education kiddos and would rather sweep them out the door off to another school. The other incident involved something professionally disrespectful said to my face.

The disrespect happened ten minutes before the end of the day. I scowled all the way to my room and thought about how doggone angry I was and how sick I was of just everything. I got into my car and thought about how I was so angry, I couldn't even move on....

Wait, move on?? Wasn't I just talking about moving on and forgiveness? And all of a sudden my own words were haunting me and I realized that the hard thing to do was the right thing to do: to forgive the administration. [Thankfully, the Lord makes the impossible possible!!]

There is a lot that is wrong with the educational system. It is B-R-O-K-E-N. There are thousands of injustices that happen to teachers and to students every day. And sometimes, it's hard to see past our long lists of grievances. So much of a teacher's job ends up being trying to shield our students from all that crap. And when it feels personal, the best (and hardest!) thing to do is to try and forgive and move on.

And to keep on forgiving and moving on...