Rid Yourself of the Toxicity

 4 months later and the blows keep coming from my previous job. In all transparency, my unemployment was denied. I am in the process of appealing it. Yesterday was the hearing for the appeal. That was the first time my former employer ever shared what "confidential" information I shared and caused for poor performance. I'm thankful the hearing was by phone. When I heard the lies they were sharing with the judge I was sick to my stomach. My emotions were all over the place. This is the company that I devoted nearly 12 years for, and they were making up information to ensure my unemployment was denied. 

One of the lies came from private conversations with a former co-worker. We had many theory and thought sessions. They were between us, and just theories. We were two managers that were privy to many of the changes happening in our district. Somehow they were reported to HR, and they twisted the theory and added an audience. 

The other lie came from a private text conversation on two personal, non-district, cell phones. A close co-worker, and manager, had texted me after I was suspended. They started the conversation. I never violated my suspension. Somehow HR was able to share the conversation word-for-word and insinuated I had started the conversation. 

If I gained anything from the hearing, I at least gained closure. I now know they really had nothing on me, which is why they've never answered that question. I know they will stoop to any level to protect themselves and get their way. I learned that two former co-workers, whom I trusted and considered friends, betrayed me. I put together an organized appeal with strong evidence, and asked questions of the district on their evidence to poke their lies. I truly gave my all, and will accept the outcome. 

Over the summer, and now going into the Fall, I have been picking myself up. I have been redefining who I am and want to be. I let myself be consumed by that job. I truly believe it was worth it for the students and families, but not for me in the long run. I'm in week three at a new job, and I love it. I'm setting boundaries, but ensuring I'm still doing the job that I was hired for. I've started to pick up ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) reviews since I read so much. I've always wanted to that, but never had the time. A couple months ago I started a book page on Facebook to go along with my hobby. Definitely check it out and give it a follow! A couple times a week I try to share free ebooks that I find. 

Stages of Grief

Did you know when you lose a job you go through the stages of grief? I didn't know it was a thing until I experienced it myself. I'm not ashamed to admit that the first four to five days that I was terminated, I did a lot of crying. It wasn't out of anger. It was about being upset about letting people down that I had been working with, not finishing projects that I had been working on, and not feeling valued after working my butt off well beyond my contracted time for nearly 12 years. It was all thrown away with an air of smugness, and never truly stating what I did wrong. 

Eight weeks later, and you still do not know what you did "wrong". There are other things you have learned. One being that co-workers, whom you thought of as friends, were never friends. It has been amazing to see who has reached out to stay connected, and who has completely ignored me. It has been a learning experience. The most ironic part is that my former co-teachers, or teachers that I worked with as an administrator, are the ones sticking with me. None of my fellow administrators have reached out. Teachers truly are the backbone of education. 

A huge lesson I learned as well, was that I need to be more careful with my files. The day I was walked out, I lost access to all of my drives. Anything I had made or used teaching in the classroom is gone, all of my supervisor reviews are gone, my license and coursework are gone, and I could keep going. Normally, we leaves drives open for those separated to grab the files they need before we lock it. I guess I was an exception. Six years in the classroom, and six years as an administrator, and all of that work was gone. I was devastated. I felt like I had nothing to show for myself when I went job hunting. 

I found some light at the end of the tunnel when I started to think about my options for creating a professional portfolio. I was fortunate to be involved in a lot of projects for my district in the past 6 years, and there was a lot of information on their public site. I spent time scouring the site to grab any relevant information to help build my professional portfolio. A platform my district used actually posted on LinkedIn articles they had recently wrote from interviewing districts. My district happened to be one, and it was my interview from this previous April. It was perfect timing. 

With all this being said...

• Don't over dedicate yourself to someone who isn't loyal to you
• Ensure your important files you need for licenses and such are stored in a personal location
• When a culture is no longer a culture you want, don't stay
• Your family and you should always come first

Goodbye Teaching, Hello New Opportunities

18 years in education and early childhood education. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. It has brought me so much joy to watch my students grow and develop over the years. It’s truly wild to see students that I cared for as infants graduating high school this year. 🤯

For the past 6 years I’ve had the privilege to work in Technology for the largest school district in Indiana. I supported teachers during a pandemic, implemented multiple platforms, created and led staff PD, created instructional videos, learned to become a baby coder, built a project management system with the best mentor, and managed district initiatives.

As with any educator, I had side jobs over the years. These experiences have helped to shape who I am too. I’ve worked for a credit card manufacturer, I’ve done office work for a local mason and electrician, mentored teachers, and helped a couple businesses setup their cloud infrastructure.

I’m happy with my accomplishments from the past 18 years, but I want to continue pursuing my interests even if it means pushing me to change. I have truly enjoyed project management, implementation, coding, AI, and all the puzzles and challenges that come with it. I’m excited for this next chapter.

I hope to share my past 8 years with you in the upcoming months. I had so many opportunities that I never shared with anyone. As an administrator, I was afraid to share my joyful moments. I hope to capture those through here. My goal is to capture my journey going forward as well. Stay tuned for more stories.