~and time flies when you are living life~

The days of summer are flying by us.  Once it was June the first and now already the calendar reminds us that the first 5 days of July will have passed by at record speed.  Where does the time go?  I had to get older, much older in fact, before I realized just how valuable and precious each passing day is to us all.  As the seasons of our own lives come and go, we are reminded of the brevity of this thing called "life" and how we should cherish all the days that we have been given.  

It seems strange that 6 years have already come and gone since I officially became a retired teacher (whatever that is) from the state of Kansas.  Recently I was looking through an album of pictures that documented my final year (or at least I thought it would be) as an ESL teacher back in south central Kansas.  Those pictures are very special  because they chronicle a great experience for me, one that I knew was coming from the very first day that school began that year.  I had planned all along to retire once I reached my 54th birthday on October 26, 2009.  Because I knew that after 32 years there would be no more returning to school, I wanted to document something from each and every day of my final year.  I made plans to make that year the very best one I ever had, not only for myself but most assuredly for my students as well.

It was my goal to keep track of everything I did during that final school year.  My plan for retirement was actually a year before this blog began and so rather than journal online, I kept a handwritten record of what I did each and every day.  I wrote about my thoughts, activities that I did with each of the kids, new people that I met, how I was feeling about retirement, and a gazillion other things that popped into my mind.  Sometimes I found myself daydreaming as I wrote, drawing out diagrams and schemes to redo my backyard or the front porch area of my home there in Hutchinson, Kansas.  I figured that with retirement would come the extra time to plant all kinds of flowers and vegetables.  I wanted to be ready for whatever came my way.  Recently I located that old journal with some other things at home here in Burkburnett and it was fun to go back and look at the things I wrote as well as all the plans I had for the future.

As I read through those pages, I began to remember all of those things which I had deemed important that school year and in some cases, most imperative to accomplish.  Those precious memories brought a smile to my face and a joyful feeling to my "teacher heart".  I'm so glad now that I kept a record and took pictures to recall each day.  Some of them are shown below.

I went on a field trip that September with these great kids and their teachers down to the credit union for a lesson on banking.  It was a lot of fun to go behind the scenes in the banking business.  Because it was so close to our school, we just walked the couple of blocks down there.

This was me in the early morning hours of my birthday that year in October.  I'd taken the day off to celebrate it but before I did, I went to the district office to turn in all of the paper work that I had for retirement.

In January, I thought it would be fun to make grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for all the staff at school.  So on a cold wintry day in Kansas, I did just that.  It was actually fun, believe it or not.  I haven't made that many grilled cheeses since then, but on that day I made about 30 of them.

In March, these 5 ladies helped me to organize a garage sale at school to benefit one our students who had been diagnosed with cancer.  They are delightful women who still remain my friends this day.  The miles and many years have separated us but we are all as close at hand as the click of  computer keys.  Each of them is exemplary and I learned so much by working with them.

 In April, I had great fun while working with this group of kids who were making a quilt.  I loved mixing and matching the cloth remnants right alongside them.  We laughed and visited with one another for nearly an hour.  I found out just how much I could learn by listening to children rather than always talking at them.  They have a great deal to teach us if we only give them the chance.

That old journal was filled with all kinds of memories and as I read through them, I realized just what a great experience year #32 as a teacher was.  I taught with all of my heart and soul that year because I realized there would be no more.  Little did I know what would happen to me in the future.  

Now fast forward 7 years into the future.  After having been retired for all of 4 months, I returned back to the classroom in the very school district in Kansas that I retired from.  After staying an additional 3 years, I went on to teach 2 years for the Montrose/Olathe School District in Colorado as well as one year here in Texas for Petrolia CISD.  Next year I have been blessed for yet another year, this time in a small district in Oklahoma near our home here in Burkburnett.  I never thought I would be able to teach for this many years but I remain most happy and grateful to do so.

I don't know what the long term future holds for me.  Many friends have asked me why I don't just stay retired.  I've been questioned many times as to how many more years I'd like to be in the classroom.  My personal goal is to serve 40 years in education but I would consider staying a few more years past that as long as I enjoyed what I was doing, remained an effective teacher, and could be of service to a school district.  Time will tell but for now, I am just so grateful for one more year.

Seldom do I ever give advice to other teachers, but this is one time that I think I'd like to. Teacher friends and cohorts, please remember to never take for granted the job that you are entrusted to do.  There is no guarantee from year to year where you might be.  Teach every day of every single year as if it were your very last one. Do all of the things that the state standards implore you to but don't forget about doing some fun things along the way, things that aren't on the standards but they surely ought to be. Get out of your comfort zone and pay a home visit to your families.  Get to know who they are so that they will know you really care about their children and them as well.  Take some pictures and write in a journal any moment that you can.  You won't regret saving the memories.  Just ask any other teacher out there.

Ask me.

                               May of 2010~What a beautiful day that was!