A Year of Growth, Gratitude, and Collective Wins

A quick heads-up: I’m starting with the personal, because those shifts often make the professional breakthroughs possible. I promise this reflection is going somewhere — and I’ll wrap with a few practical ideas you can use for your own year-end pause.

This was the year I stepped out of the classroom and took the risk to bet on myself. After nearly two decades in schools, I chose to trade the familiar rhythm of daily lessons and lively hallways for the quiet space to think, create, and support others. It was a decision rooted in belief. It was also a leap into uncertainty. And now, as 2025 (and my first term in educational consulting) comes to an end, I can say with full clarity: it was the right path.

The Moment I Knew

There have been a few moments that affirmed the risk I took. One stands out. It was the very first team meeting of the year. A new team came together at a new school, in a new country, and, for some, even in a new grade level. They were solidly in the storming phase of teaming. Energy was tense, fragmented, and heavy with all the unknowns.

When I started where I do with a new team and shared the "why" of learning communities, the tone shifted. Shoulders softened. Questions opened. Hopefulness emerged. Excitement followed. It was the first moment I thought, I've got this. I can help teams move from overwhelm to alignment, from individual effort to shared purpose. From a single silo to a learning hive.

The People Who Carried Me

This year was not one I walked alone.

My husband has been the steady voice saying, "If not now, when?" He champions this decision each time doubt creeps in. My WAB team, now scattered across the world, remains my North Star. Our WhatsApp thread is a reminder of who I am, what I value, and why I do this work. They challenge my thinking, keep me laughing, and help me stay grounded in the purpose we built together.

And to every colleague who has clicked like, shared a post, sent a message, hopped on a virtual coffee, or said, "Keep going"... thank you. You have no idea how much those moments mattered.

What This Year Taught Me

This year reshaped me. Not quickly. Not easily. But meaningfully. Here are a few of the shifts that defined this transition from classroom educator to consultant and coach.

From “my classroom” to “our ecosystem.” My lens expanded from the 26 students in front of me or the 104 in the grade level community to the whole system of elementary education. I am thinking about adult collaboration, scheduling, shared routines, and the student experience across classrooms. I am no longer part of an antiquated educational system. I am helping shape a new one for the future of education.

From doing the work to designing the conditions. Teaching used to mean planning the lesson, facilitating the learning, and guiding the group. Now, I design structures that help teams teach and learn more collaboratively and intentionally. Tools, templates, reflection protocols, and planning models. My work is building the scaffolds that help shift mindsets, which encourage great teaching to happen at scale.

From immediate wins to long-view impact. In schools, you receive constant feedback. A smile, a question, a breakthrough. This year brought more quiet. More air. More space to imagine and invent. I am learning to celebrate the impact I may not directly witness. It is a new kind of patience. And patience is not one of my virtues.

From being evaluated to being trusted. Moving out of the classroom meant stepping outside traditional evaluation structures and the built-in scaffolds they provided for my professional growth. My work, now, depends on relationships and credibility. Schools trust me to guide them. It feels freeing, humbling, and a little vulnerable. But it also feels right.

From “I need to get this right” to “we’re building this together.” Stepping into this new venture and learning from other hero consultants has dismantled the myth of the lone expert. The best work happens when I co-create with teams, blending their context with my experience. We build something better together than either of us could separately.

From certainty to curiosity. Every school is its own ecosystem. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. I have learned to enter gently, listen deeply, and diagnose before suggesting. Curiosity has become my most important tool.

From managing energy to modeling it. I used to manage student (and colleague) energy all day. Now, I try to model the energy teams need. Calm. Belief. Optimism. Clarity. Patience. This work is emotional leadership as much as instructional leadership.

From belonging to one community to belonging to many. I no longer have a single school home. I now belong, in small and meaningful ways, to many. Across countries, across cultures, across grade levels, across the system. It is a different kind of community and a growing source of purpose.

Collective Wins Worth Celebrating

One of the greatest joys of this year has been witnessing the collective wins in schools that are embracing the learning community model.

Teams are shifting from “my students” to “our students” and from isolated classrooms to shared responsibility. I have seen students work seamlessly across the grade level, use spaces flexibly, and benefit from adults who plan, teach, and learn about students together. I have seen teams sort students using shared data rather than individual opinion and make decisions with more clarity and enthusiasm because they understand the "why" behind their work.

These are not small steps. They are cultural shifts.

An Invitation to Reflect

As 2026 approaches, many of us pause to take stock of our year. The joys, the challenges, the firsts, the growth. Here are a few questions I’ll be carrying into my own reflection. Maybe they will resonate with you, too.

Who made you braver this year?

Who helped lighten your load?

What small student moment stayed with you?

What firsts are you proud of?

Who trusted you with their growth?

What did you do that deserves celebration?

Thank you for trusting me to walk alongside your teams — and for allowing me to find a new purpose rooted in collaboration, community, and possibility.

Here’s to a new year filled with courage, clarity, and collective wins.