You know, I never even figured there would be a 37th one for me, or a 36th, 35th, 34th, or 33rd one either. Year #32 was supposed to be my last one and when I made up my mind to turn in my official retirement papers on my 54th birthday in 2009, I was just positive that I was doing the right thing. Well, I am here to tell you that I was very wrong in that assumption. I still had "teacher" left in me and how grateful I am that I have the chance to continue on for a few more years.
This is now my second year as a teacher along the Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Olathe, Colorado. This year my assignment will be different than last. I have moved from the fourth grade to the first grade where this morning I will meet "the 21". I have looked forward to this day all summer long and now finally, in about 3 hours more, we shall meet together for the first time. The primary grades are not new to me, having taught 18 of my 37 years in first and second grade. I did my student teaching in the little Amish community of Yoder, Kansas and then went on for 15 more years to teach a combination first-second grade classroom there. 95% of my students were of the Old Order Amish faith and a sprinkling in of other non-Amish (referred to as English) students. I found my niche with the little people and I loved all of the opportunities that were mine. Although I learned how to be a fourth-grade teacher last year and enjoyed my time tremendously, it will be kind of nice to return to the same age group where I first started out now so very long ago. 1979 seems like a distant memory to me. I was 24 then, young and ready to give my life to the teaching of children. I'm older now, a lot older and soon I will be reaching the age of 59. God willing, there may be the blessing of a few more years in the classroom. Life is a gift, you know? Being a teacher, well that's a special gift.
Last year on the first day of school, I read my blog post for the day to the kids in my fourth-grade class. It was a letter that I wrote especially for them. In it, I told them of how happy I was to be their teacher and how knowing them would save me from the extreme homesickness and loneliness that I had felt as a newcomer to the area only a couple of months before. I would be the very first to admit that I had to pause from time to time to collect my thoughts and grab a kleenix before I could continue on. But I got through it and when I had finished reading it, they knew that their teacher loved them very much even before the first day had begun. That first day was the beginning of a great school year together and I surely do wish for them all a successful fifth-grade year. But now there are "the 21" and instead of writing them a letter and reading it to them this morning as we begin our day, I'm going to be doing something different. All day long I am going to read them bits and pieces of their own letter only this time it won't be written down on paper or on a blog site. It will come as I need to tell them and it will come straight from my heart.
I have this little bulletin board over by the west windows in our classroom and on it I have displayed lots of different things about myself when I was a kid growing up, just like them. I want them to see that their teacher has been where they are today and as for their teacher, well it's a great reminder to me to show some empathy for them when things might get to going on the "tough" side from time to time. I want them to know that I understand when sometimes they miss their mommas and daddies and just want to go home. So did I. I want them to know that sometimes we have to get to the bathroom at times when a break is not scheduled and all they have to do is say "Hey, I have to go!" Having an accident at school is not fun and who among us cannot identify with that? I want those 21 children to understand that there is much for them to learn and that some of it may not be all that easy but all of it is attainable. My wish is for them to somehow by the last day of school, get to where they need to be in order to find success as 2nd graders come the fall of 2015. My mind is full of all the hopes, aspirations, and dreams of lessons that I want to do with them as their teacher this year. My prayer is always that I do my best to provide the kind of education that they need to survive in this world of ours. It's kind of a rough place sometimes, but I hope to show those little 6-year olds that the world is filled with much more goodness than it will ever be with things that are bad. And even in as much as I have planned to teach them along the way, on the last day of our school in May it will probably stand true the same thing that I have learned after finishing all the other school years before this one as I realize.........
They will have taught me so much more about myself than I could have ever taught them. I used to look at that notion as a sign of weakness. Now I know that it is a sign of strength. Every day, every person is a learner. Until the end. Until our last breath is taken. I want to teach and I also want to learn.
This is Monday, the 18th day of August in the year 2014. It's a great day to begin the first grade on and an even greater day to be alive in. I will do as the Good Book admonishes us to and be happy and give thanks in it!
Even though I am a grown up now, I wish some days that my momma and daddy were here to tell me that they loved me and to wish me well on my first day of school. They are in Heaven now and I feel sure that they still watch over me, their little girl. I always try to do my best in whatever it is that I do. It's the way that I was brought up and I honor my parents by always remembering that.
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