~or at least I hope so~
I slept in until 5:15 this morning and it was one of those moments when you say to yourself, "Wow, how did that happen?" 5:15 was my "time to get up" time from 25 years ago. As the years have gone by, my alarms (both on my cell phone as well as my internal one) get set earlier and earlier. Now my normal time to get up and start the day is usually 3:15, not two hours laster as it was this morning.
Perhaps I needed the rest?
As the months that lie ahead fly by faster and faster, pushing me towards the day when I finally say "time to retire", I have to wonder what will I do with myself and all the extra hours and minutes of the day that will then be mine to use as I see fit. After giving so very many years to the profession of education, I find it a mystery as to how I will see myself once the time comes that there are no more papers to grade, no more lesson plans to make, no more evaluations of how I am performing in the classroom, no more state assessments to prepare children for, and one other thing that already is breaking my heart.
No more children that will call me their teacher~
In the fall I will be 65 years old and already 10 years past my original retirement back in the state of Kansas. That seems pretty unfathomable to me, this notion that I am still doing that which I chose back when I signed my first contract with Haven USD 312 at the age of 23. I remember so well that my first contract as a Title I Math teacher in the very district that I grew up and attended school in, netted a paycheck of $650 each month. I felt so rich! There were no computers, no state standards, no state assessments, and very little in the way of professional development back then. For all that we lacked as teachers trying to get our students to levels of proficiency, we certainly did have one thing that is more important than all the money, programs, and outside expertise that is found today.
We had each other.
I wish I could go back and tell all those fine educators from my first year of being a teacher how much it meant to me to be able to ask their advice on anything that I needed. I'd give them a big hug and tell them how grateful that I was when they stopped by my classroom each day to check on me to see if everything was going ok. I'd tell them how much I appreciated their smiles and simple conversations in the hallway, and many times that conversation would have absolutely nothing to do with what was going on in my classroom. Instead they'd just ask about how life was going and by the end of the year it seemed as if we had known one another all along. Those dear and precious people from 40 years ago REALLY cared. Even though I was new and inexperienced, they saw value and great worth in me. I was included in everything and welcomed into their world. I'm sure looking back now that I must have been pretty young and totally inexperienced but they took me in anyways! There are so many things that a first year teacher (or even a veteran teacher who is new to a building) needs some help with along the way. Teaching cohorts who provide much needed support and friendship are some of the greatest benefits any educator can hope for.
It's tough to make it on your own.
We all need help.
Mike keeps reminding me and has been since we first got married in 2013, that I need to find a hobby to keep me occupied after retirement. Not sure what that hobby will be especially since for the better part of my life all that I have known is teaching children. I'm sure there will be something out there for me.
Or at least I hope so.
Perhaps I needed the rest?
As the months that lie ahead fly by faster and faster, pushing me towards the day when I finally say "time to retire", I have to wonder what will I do with myself and all the extra hours and minutes of the day that will then be mine to use as I see fit. After giving so very many years to the profession of education, I find it a mystery as to how I will see myself once the time comes that there are no more papers to grade, no more lesson plans to make, no more evaluations of how I am performing in the classroom, no more state assessments to prepare children for, and one other thing that already is breaking my heart.
No more children that will call me their teacher~
In the fall I will be 65 years old and already 10 years past my original retirement back in the state of Kansas. That seems pretty unfathomable to me, this notion that I am still doing that which I chose back when I signed my first contract with Haven USD 312 at the age of 23. I remember so well that my first contract as a Title I Math teacher in the very district that I grew up and attended school in, netted a paycheck of $650 each month. I felt so rich! There were no computers, no state standards, no state assessments, and very little in the way of professional development back then. For all that we lacked as teachers trying to get our students to levels of proficiency, we certainly did have one thing that is more important than all the money, programs, and outside expertise that is found today.
We had each other.
I wish I could go back and tell all those fine educators from my first year of being a teacher how much it meant to me to be able to ask their advice on anything that I needed. I'd give them a big hug and tell them how grateful that I was when they stopped by my classroom each day to check on me to see if everything was going ok. I'd tell them how much I appreciated their smiles and simple conversations in the hallway, and many times that conversation would have absolutely nothing to do with what was going on in my classroom. Instead they'd just ask about how life was going and by the end of the year it seemed as if we had known one another all along. Those dear and precious people from 40 years ago REALLY cared. Even though I was new and inexperienced, they saw value and great worth in me. I was included in everything and welcomed into their world. I'm sure looking back now that I must have been pretty young and totally inexperienced but they took me in anyways! There are so many things that a first year teacher (or even a veteran teacher who is new to a building) needs some help with along the way. Teaching cohorts who provide much needed support and friendship are some of the greatest benefits any educator can hope for.
It's tough to make it on your own.
We all need help.
Mike keeps reminding me and has been since we first got married in 2013, that I need to find a hobby to keep me occupied after retirement. Not sure what that hobby will be especially since for the better part of my life all that I have known is teaching children. I'm sure there will be something out there for me.
Or at least I hope so.
10 years ago I had the chance to get together with these 4 little girls who were part of the very first class of 1st grade students I taught at Haven Grade School in the early 1980's. Even though they grew up and become parents of 1st graders of their own, they STILL call me their teacher, and that means the world to me!
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