Team Building and Collaboration

One of the first groups I think of when I think of adjourning is graduating high school.  This was a group of people that I spent a lot of time with.  I formed many close friendships with these people and graduation was a celebration of our accomplishments.  We were setting out into a whole new world with new expectations and unknown adventures.  Some of the people I still talk to and some I rarely, if ever see.  It was a sad and happy time.  I have been a part of several classroom teams that did not stay together and some were hard to leave while others were easy.  The harder ones were the ones where we were high-performing and there was trust, exceptance, and support for everyone.  I am still friends with a couple of the teachers I worked with through the years because of the bonds we made in the classroom.  I also remember being part of an Early Reading First grant and how we had a celebratory dinner when the grant ended.  It was sad because I had to find new employment and because I was going to miss doing what I had done and working with the people I had worked with.  It was also wonderful because so many of the teachers had learned so much and had come so far with the support of the Early Reading First team.  It was good to know that they had the skills they needed to continue what they had learned. 

The hardest group to leave was my current employer.  I was part of an amazing organization and after having a seizure I could no longer do one of my job functions and was forced to look elsewhere for work.  I loved the organization and hated to leave.  One good thing was my determination to go back.  I began working on getting my degree in child development and I am happy to say that I am back with that organization only to find that things are about to change dramatically. 

As far as closing rituals, I have experienced many dinners and a few graduations.  I imagine that I will adjourn from the group of colleagues in my Master's degree program with some sad goodbyes, but also knowing that we all still have our blogs and we can communicate with one another if we need to.  I think adjourning is essential because we need to look back on our accomplishments and celebrate those and even look at our failures and what we may have overcome.  By taking time, we can see how we will move forward and perhaps how we will stay in touch with members of the group.