As an only child, that is a familiar concept to me. As a matter of fact, I think one of the many reasons that Lauree and I are such good friends is because we are both only children, and we had one another’s back at several points growing up… and today.

Why go it alone when we can all rely on a little help from our friends?

That is the concept behind a 2008 autumn-themed book written and illustrated by Carin Berger entitled Little Yellow Leaf. As I sit here staring at the last of the autumn leaves to fall, I am drawn to this book even more. As most teachers do, I love autumn, and I was getting bored with the same, old autumn books I had been reading for many years. Little Yellow Leaf is a refreshing, modern look at autumn, with sleek, contemporary collaged illustrations and a powerful message. One frightened, lonely, yellow leaf isn’t quite ready yet to let go of the tree yet. Even as Little Yellow Leaf watches all of the other leaves fall, it still can’t quite muster the courage to let go and trust that everything will be okay. That is, until, Little Yellow Leaf finds a leaf companion with whom to take the plunge. They decide to surrender together, and let’s face it– together is a great way to go. We don’t always have to face our fears alone. Every once in a while, the support and trust of loving others can make a tremendous difference in officially facing the fears, and tackling the fears more permanently.

As teachers, I find we are often isolated behind the walls and doors of our classrooms. It is absolutely essential to establish and maintain active, healthy relationships with other teachers to share and ponder life’s difficulties. In fact, I think we construct knowledge within the context of relationships. We need to pay attention to the textures of quality and trust in relationships in order to allow new knowledge to flourish.

Teachers all agree that affective and relational dimensions should be emphasized in the education of young children. Why don’t we consider our emotions and relationships in the education of every individual, regardless of age? Adolescents and adults all deserve this attention to the emotional, relational qualities of their education, too.

To all of you reading out there—how do you foster and utilize relationships to learn and grow in your own teaching practice? Have there ever been times when you just couldn’t go it alone, yet found solace in the relational support of a colleague? In the same ways you honor the emotions and friendships of your students, how do you respect your own feelings and the relationships in your own life, as an adult and educator?

In some way, I feel like I have been a teacher my whole life. Although I have been an elementary and middle school teacher, as well as a college professor for several years, my teaching days began as a child. I would systematically line up my stuffed animals and carefully hold my prized children’s books for all of those plastic eyes to see, and read each word, with emotion.

Over the last few years, in my days as a college professor, I’ve found that the best times of our classes have been those moments I merely read a picture book aloud. All of the college students melt into their seats as the worlds come alive for them, and they can finally relax after a stressful day. Afterward, we frequently discuss the themes of the books, and how they can be applied to life and learning. I would hazard a guess that it was probably one the best parts of everybody’s day, to just lose ourselves in that book and the discussion of it.

Of course, my college students regularly have questions about the specifics of teaching, but more often than not, what I find to be the most challenging aspect of their days is simply their stress levels, and the demands that are placed on teachers everyday, by administrators, parents, students, and just personal concerns.

It is at these moments I genuinely wonder, why can’t we just sit back, relax, and look at children’s books for our clues? The literature sheds such light on our lives, which then impacts our teaching and everything else we do.

My dear friend Lauree and I have been close since the childhood days of playing school. For nearly thirty years, we have tackled each milestone together, trying never to be afraid of what life deals us. Lauree and I have had long talks about the straightforward beauty in children’s literature, and the complex lessons the simple books teach us. Their lessons are far more complex than anything we learned in complicated college classes.

Over time, Lauree and I have developed a vision for the type of work we would like to do with other woman, as we’re all tackling life’s twists and turns. Let’s have a website, a blog, occasional events, and most importantly, on-going, honest dialogue about what matters in our lives. We’ll frame it all with children’s literature, one simple yet gorgeous book at a time. I will share my favorite teaching stories, lessons and anecdotes from over the years, Lauree will share reflections on how to manage the demands in our lives, and we’ll frame the whole endeavor with various children’s books, both classics and the latest hot titles.

Join Lauree and me in this journey, and let’s play school together!

Since our friendship began at age 5, Christine Woodcock and I have shared a fascination of life’s twists and turns, especially as women. From the uniqueness of female friendships to navigating the decisions of career, marriage and motherhood.

Reflective Renewal gives us a chance to bring our curiosity and appreciation of women – and teachers – to others, in the process combining our distinct gifts as an educator and a life coach. We come at literature and life from different yet complementary perspectives. As we embrace what that means, we hope so will you.

For me, children’s literature, childhood games and the rules of the classroom are tools that I use as a certified life coach to help my clients understand their values and motivation. They are also fun – something adults need in their lives – and an excellent resource for brainstorming and creating a vision for what you want your life to look like.

Though I am not an educator by profession, I come to Reflective Renewal with a deep appreciation for teachers, and how much your work shapes who we are as people. I hope that you find our blog insightful both for your lesson planning and your personal development.

Please feel free to comment, question and challenge the ideas presented here. We look forward to it!