Plot Twist: I Found My Joy in Teaching Again

It started on a Tuesday morning with a text in our Teacher Tribe thread. One of my closest friends shared devastating news: her teammate’s husband had died unexpectedly. Our little group immediately sent love and condolences, aching for a woman most of us had never even met.

As I read those words, my heart dropped. I couldn’t help but imagine my own life being flipped upside down like that — my kids, my husband, my whole world unraveling right before a school year began. It made me pause and count my blessings. Even without full-time employment at the time, my family was healthy, safe, and together. That was everything.

That evening, my phone rang. I assumed it was my friend wanting to process the day. Instead, she got right to the point: she had told her principal about me and said I’d be perfect to take over her colleague’s class. Then she hung up because, apparently, the principal would be calling me in the next ten minutes.

Cue stunned silence.

Sure enough, the phone rang again. On the other end was a principal I’d never met, explaining the sensitivity of the situation and her deep desire to protect her 4th grade team. She trusted my friend’s recommendation so much that she offered me the long-term sub position on the spot.

It was Tuesday night. Teacher training started Thursday. Open House was Monday. The first day of school was Tuesday. Everything needed to happen fast.

My heart ached for the grieving teacher. I didn’t know her, but I felt the weight of her loss. At the same time, something clicked in me: I could do this. I wanted to do this. Fourth grade is the grade I’ve taught the most, and my best teaching years had been alongside the very friend who had recommended me. I’d done a long-term sub before and understood the challenges of stepping into someone else’s classroom. And honestly? My family needed the steady income.

I said yes.

The next day I was at HR signing papers. I called my mom and told her “Nana mode” had to activate early — I needed backup for the girls since this district started school a week before theirs. She was immediately on board. By Thursday, I was sitting in the library at a brand-new school, learning procedures, meeting kind colleagues, and realizing this was all falling into place in a way that felt bigger than coincidence.

When the first day of school arrived, the classroom was mostly ready (thanks to the original teacher), and my grade-level team had plans prepped. I walked in nervous but determined. And after that first week, something happened I didn’t expect:

I found my joy for teaching again.

I truly thought I was done. Last spring’s layoff broke me. The endless cycle of failed interviews and rejections over the summer convinced me I wasn’t a good teacher, that maybe I wasn’t wanted anywhere. I felt stomped into the dirt.

But maybe the dirt was exactly what I needed. Because seeds grow in dirt.

This unexpected opportunity became water and sunlight. It reminded me that I’m not a terrible teacher. Last year was hard. The rejection season was brutal. But I wasn’t done — I was just waiting to be planted somewhere new.

I don’t know how long I’ll be in this classroom. October? December? Longer? But I know this: my heart for teaching is back. I’m giving my best to these kids, to this school, and to the woman who will one day walk back into her classroom after unimaginable loss. When she’s ready, I want her to find her students cared for, ready, and waiting for her.

Plot twist: I didn’t lose teaching. I just had to rediscover it. And it turns out, joy was waiting for me all along.