It is the home stretch of the stormy season in education work. The honeymoon period is over. The weather is changing; we are entering darker days and fatigue is settling in. We need rest, but before we get any, we must endure the short days and long weeks of fall.

Even good days feel rough and we begin to question our purpose. We resent our profession, we resent our colleagues and we resent our students. We lose sight of the vision as we are trapped in the fog of the storm.

This season cycles every year.  Veteran educators develop ways to weather the storm, but many educators leave the classroom because for them, the storm never passes.

The stormy season is where we develop community. Those who make it through the storm do so by developing capacity through interdependent relationships built on trust and vision. Students develop trust in their teachers, teachers develop trust in each other and faculty develop trust in their administrators. The school community shares a vision and stays the course to meet that goal.

When the storm passes and the community recognizes how far they have come, it is time for celebration! Yet, the journey continues. The focus shifts from survival and protection to creative development. We acknowledge our place in a cycle of learning and recognize that as long we live, we learn.

New storms await us on the horizon- but that is okay. As educators, we grow from previous learning, exercise the strength to weather many storms and travel to even farther opportunities.

Read more from Kelly Camak on her blog The Teacher Manifesto