Hello everyone! We know education is a difficult place to be right now for many of us. The mounting pressure made worse by problems that never seem to go away. Unsustainable work/life balance. Toxic work places… the list can go on. Not everyone is enjoying teaching the way they once did, and passionate educators are walking away. Halee Sikorski, a previous elementary teacher and friend of the show, did just that after 5 years in the classroom. In part 1, we dove into her history with teaching, the changes she tired to make, and ultimately, when she made the decision to quit her teaching job. In part 2, we look at what has changed for her since leaving the classroom, and what her advice would be for anyone thinking this is their last year.     This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their new book, The Literacy Studio: Redesigning the Workshop for Readers and Writers, by Ellin Oliver Keene. Do your reading and writing workshops seem to fly by, with never enough time for your students to really dig into the work of either one? What if we could redesign our workshops to create more time for independent reading and writing, conferring, and choice? Welcome to The Literacy Studio, a new, integrated approach to reader’s and writer’s workshop. Here you’ll learn how to plan and execute lessons that weave reading and writing together into one literacy block, giving you much more flexibility to meet your students’ needs. Learn more and download a free sample at Hein.pub/LitStudio.