~Welcome to 5th Grade~

I was working in my new classroom this week and trying my best to make some progress in checking off a few of the many items on my "get this done" list.  There are cupboards to go through, books to sort, boxes to unpack, and supply lists to make.  The official start of the first day of school will soon be at hand, and I want to be ready.  

 Before leaving at the end of the afternoon, I stopped for a moment and looked at the chalkboard alongside the wall.  The first time I was shown which classroom I would have, I was so thankful to realize that this teaching tool, the only one I had during that first year of teaching in 1979, would still be available for me to use.  I had come across a box of chalk in one of the desk drawers and so with a piece of it in my hand, I walked over to scrawl a message on the right hand side of the board.  

 The feel of the smooth piece of chalk and the sound of my handwriting squeaking along the board took me back to a time so very long ago.  And you know what?  It felt nice.

 So many changes have happened since that first day of being a teacher back in the fall of 1979. Back in the early days of my career, the notion of having a computer as a teaching aid was not even a thought.  A teacher couldn't just whip out their smart phone and find out who the author of a child's favorite book was or determine how far the Earth is from Pluto.  Encyclopedias were a staple in every single classroom in the beginning and were heavily relied upon by students and teachers alike.  There was no classroom aid who came to help us if our student numbers tipped over the magic number of 23.  On hot days, teachers just walked over and opened up the windows and prayed for a cool breeze to come through.  Who would have thought that one day each classroom could control their own comfort level by adjusting a box on the wall?  Women teachers wore dresses or skirts with pantyhose and the very thought of coming to school in a pair of jeans or flip flops would be the ticket for being in trouble in the principal's office.  

 Oh how times have changed!

 I've been doing this so long that all the years tend to become a jumble of time, but after 40 years I guess it's ok to have that happen.  Even in all the changes, some of which I wasn't a fan of, one thing will always remain the same and as constant as the North Star.  I love children and truly enjoy being a part of the process in helping them to be raised up.  When I die, there won't be a 6-figure bank account for my children to have to figure out what to do with.  They knew that about year #20 as a teacher.  My children and husband will know that I spent the years of my life doing exactly as I wanted.  The riches I was afforded by being a teacher would never be realized in dollars and cents but in something else instead.

 The bank account has been my teacher's heart and the monthly deposits were the love of the children.

 Somewhere out there is a group of Ponca City 5th graders who soon will be mine to teach.  I can't wait to meet them and get this year started!
Believe it!

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