Actually, no one really said that. Maybe I did a few times, and a few times I almost did quit writing here. But here I am, Fifteen and hanging on.
By the way, I'd never go back to actually being Fifteen. It wasn't terrible, mind you: I was editor of the high school paper, had lots of friends, did well in school, and from what I remember, pretty much enjoyed my life that year. But Memory being what it is--soft and blurry and unreliable--tends to shield us from some Crummy Stuff. Fifteen is hard.
I taught sophomores for the bulk of my 30+ year career, and I know of what I speak. I loved teaching sophomores. They weren't as crazed as freshmen, not as caught up in romance or jobs as juniors, and not as lazy and stressed as seniors. (Yes, seniors are lazy and stressed at the same time. Trust me.)
In honor of my Fifteenth Anniversary here, I'm going to share some of the questions I get most often about my Teaching Career.
1. Do you miss Teaching?
The actual Teaching, yes. I really do. I especially miss sharing the wonderful American Literature poetry, novels, and plays I got to introduce and read along with my sophomores. I loved watching them grab onto the nuances inherent in them, the colour symbolism in The Great Gatsby, the importance of the motifs in The Catcher in the Rye, the huge humanity in the works of Walt Whitman, the subtleties in Arthur Miller's stage directions for The Crucible. I appreciated their dogged determination as they plodded through grammar and the real triumph on their faces when they suddenly grasped the formulas of complex and compound sentences and could identify them in real writing, like President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It was The Best.
2. Why don't you substitute teach or volunteer at a school?
First of all, subbing on the high school level in my district (and surrounding districts) is NOT teaching. It's the worst parts of being a Teacher: taking attendance, crowd control, discipline, boring worksheets or idiot lesson plans. It's like the first day over and over again. Volunteering at a school? Same thing. Not Teaching. I don't want to run copies for someone or make endless cutouts for someone or sit and grade papers. All of that is stuff I hated about my job--the Not Teaching Stuff.
3. Do you miss the kids?
Yes, I really do. I miss being around teenagers. My job kept me informed about What Was Cool, What The New Slang Was, and all the current important business in the world of The Youth. I also miss being around people who are just fun a great deal of the time. And who don't talk about problems, health, or politics. They were always refreshing and always interesting. True, they were often too focused on themselves, but once they got out of their own bubbles, they were fascinating to me. I taught in a huge high school with an enrollment of 2000 with a significant minority population and more than 60% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch. Many led lives I could not imagine. Many drove me batshit crazy. Many made me cry with empathy. The majority gave me great joy.
4. Why don't you...?
People are always tossing suggestions at me for other career moves. Why don't I teach at a (fill in the blank) program? Why don't I write a book about my career? Why don't I look into this or that? First of all, perhaps you did not get the Memo. I AM RETIRED. And I love how people act like writing a book is just a simple nothing. It's a lot of work, and in case you have not noticed, I have enough trouble showing up here on a semi-regular basis. I AM RETIRED. Besides, my career was not special in that it would make a wonderful book for anyone but me, and I have the Memories.
5. Do you remember your students?
Oh, yes. I remember a great deal of them. Some I remember by name. Some I remember by face. Some I remember only in a little scene or snippet. Some I remember in a combination of those. Several have become treasured and cherished friends. Still others are friends of my sons, so I see them or hear of them regularly. There are so many that I still think of from time to time. So very many. What is so wonderful is that they come into my life now and then. Most recently, we bought a car, and the saleswoman was my former student. She is still delightful and caring. That made it so much easier; I knew I could trust her. She showed me pictures of her family, and I was happy for her Happiness.
**********
I told many Teaching stories here at the Dept. of Nance while I was in The Thick Of It. If you're interested, you can click the tags Classroom, Teaching, or School.
Thank you for reading here at the Dept. Thank you, especially, if you are a Commenter. Life for all of us is a question of Priorities and Demands. That you would take Precious Time to read--and comment!--means that you have prioritized me and my writing and thoughts. That means so very much to me.
I look forward to Sixteen.
original image
Happy blog birthday! I worked in the office of a high school for my 20 years in the school system and I can relate to everything single thing you said here, other than the actual joy of teaching. When I first started there I didn't think I would enjoy teenagers at all and boy was I ever wrong. I loved them and still miss them so much! I cried ever single year when the seniors came in to say goodbye. Since I haven't been here through your journey I will definitely click around and read some of your old posts. Just reading this one has me filled with emotion, I'm sure other will too. I'm looking forward to your posts on your way to 16 too. Have a great weekend :)
ReplyDeleteMartha--Thank you. I remember so many Senior Goodbyes, too. They were both joyous and sad--bittersweet. I attended many grad parties. Teenagers are quite a population, aren't they? Just when you think you're ready to smack them, they charm your heart.
DeleteI'm flattered that you want to poke around the archives here. I hope you enjoy it and find it time well spent.
Happy blogday! It's crazy how much time flies!
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned substitute teachers, it made me think of some of the ones that were around when I was in high school. I remember Dr. Moseley having a cute introductory song, which he had even rewritten in Spanish for when he subbed for Spanish classes. But I don't remember learning anything from him.
Also, do you remember The Rev? I'm sure you have more stories than I do, but I remember one that I probably shouldn't repeat in a public forum. It was That Bad.
I've started writing a book of travel stories: it's truly painful work, and there are so many other people with more interesting stories out there. Someday I'll self-publish it, and Amazon will sell exactly seventeen copies of it.
Hugs,
- Mikey G.
Mikey--You were definitely One Worth Remembering.
DeleteI feel a tickle in the back of my memory re: The Rev, but that's all. I'm afraid I don't fully recall that particular sub. But I can see Dr. M. clearly in my mind. A charming gentleman, but, as you say, not one that anyone would learn much from. Only long-term subs really had a chance to do much actual Teaching.
Writing is Work. Period. I enjoy it and am irritated by it at the same time.
I couldn't agree with you more. People are so CONCERNED about what we the retired will and are doing! We say, "nothing and that doesnt start till noon" just to piss them off. You are retired! I have to find this great article about living a normal life. We aren't all going to be Oprah. Perhaps, just perhaps we are here only to help one other being in our entire life...or to help someone out. I too, don't want to write a memoir type book. Being a nurse was sad, and people don't get that.
ReplyDeletekathy b--I'm sure being a nurse (neonatal, wasn't it?) was very sad for someone who is empathetic, like you are. I know I could not be a nurse because it would overwhelm me to see so much pain, despite the fact that I was there to help. Even as a teacher, I often felt that what I was doing was immaterial when faced with the huge circumstances of the lives of some of my kids.
DeleteHappy 15th to you! This is known as your 'crystal' anniversary; if we were neighbors I'd bring over some crystals for you. Then you'd think I was weird and ignore me forever.
ReplyDeleteBBSuz--Thank you! Maybe I'll splurge and get some crystal wineglasses. If we were neighbors and I thought you were weird, we'd get along great.
DeleteI love this post, I wish my kids had had a dedicated teacher like you. My MIL was a teacher and even in her late 80's former students would stop by her house just to say hi. They were married, had children and were well on with their lives, but she still meant something to them. That tells you loads about her and you too my friend.
ReplyDeleteMeredith--Thank you for such kind words and sentiments. I love the mental picture of your sweet MIL sitting on her porch, perhaps, and the families of former students stopping by.
DeleteI remember the first time I had the son/daughter of a former student in my sophomore class! I almost fell over, I felt so old. But it was warmly comforting at the same time.
Fifteen years is quite an accomplishment. Congrats! When I retired, I began to take offense at the constant questions about my future plans. Later I realized they were only doing research for buying me the perfect retirement gift. Humbling.
ReplyDeleteEileen--Thank you. It seems your interrogators had a delightful purpose in mind. I hope you received a wonderful and thoughtful gift.
DeleteIt's not to say that people who question me are somehow being nefarious. I choose to think that they feel I have more to offer the world.
Happy Anniversary and thank you for the window into your retirement. It's funny how people never ask a retired factory worker if he/she volunteers to work on an assembly line. My niece is a retired teacher and she gets that question all the time, too.
ReplyDeleteJean--Thank you. And that's an interesting and enlightening point. People sure want to put retired teachers back to work, don't they? Not so much with other retired careers.
DeletePerhaps it has something to do with the age many of us are when we can retire.
Happy anniversary! I think I’ve been in blogland for 11 years (I know, I could look it up). That seems like a long time to be putting our writings out into the universe. I used to do more actual writing - perhaps I should get back to it. But this comment is supposed to be about you & how much I love your posts & I’m so glad that you’re still writing!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I don’t expect to get to retire until I’m too infirm to work anymore, but if I did, I would definitely NOT be interested in any other jobs. So I am in solidarity with you there!
Bug--Thank you. I know you've been writing at your spot for a long while, too. I used to write here far more often myself. Twice a week for years! And that's when I was teaching! How the heck did I do it? Now I rarely get more than two posts a month up here. Retirement does slow everything down, and for that I'm grateful.
DeleteEven AARP magazine frosts my cupcakes with all its busy retiree articles and how they're all thriving in second careers. I feel like such a slacker.
Happy 15th! I am retired also but have struggled to find a rhythm or purpose to my life now. I never feel as if I am being "productive" enough but yet I don't push myself to correct that by getting busy! I read a LOT but wonder what I should be doing with the rest of my life. Thanks for your many years of teaching and now blogging! You reach out to people and share your life, thoughts, and feelings and that is so helpful to me.
ReplyDeleteEllen--Thank you. I felt that way off and on. So many people were at me to Do Something Else, that I honestly felt I should. I went through a huge Cleanout Phase first, completely ransacking the basement, some storage areas of the house, and finally doing the projects that had been put off because I was always working or tired.
DeleteThen I realized that I had worked 30 years in a tough and demanding job--public education in a high-needs district--and I had damn well earned my retirement. I finally had the time to relax and take care of home things and ME things in an entire day rather than an hour here and there when I was exhausted. (Prepping for Christmas, especially, became a Delight rather than a Devastation.)
Your purpose in life now is finally YOU. And, perhaps, making things at home more peaceful. And maybe finding a cause you believe in that you can now devote time to (mine is social activism/politics). Reading a lot is never bad. Ever. What a joy.
Give yourself this wonderful gift of Time. It will help your rhythm and purpose find you.
15 years! Doesn't seem like that long, but when I think about it, I have been hanging out here for 14 of those years. Many thanks for being a such a bright spot in our lives. I consider your blog a refuge and an antidote to the slings and arrows of the outrageous things in life, and especially recently.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to retirement and teaching: Well, I'm not there yet, of course, but it is on the horizon. I know I will miss my students, but I already do miss them since I have started teaching online. One of my classes this fall has 30 students and I have no idea what they even look like. That's really weird and disconcerting. (Although now I can understand how my students might have felt about me when I taught English to the blind, but... at least I was in the same room with them.) Yep, I am not liking the 'new normal' at all. I am adapting OK, but only because I have no choice. And I wonder what I *will* do when I am retired, but I can almost see myself doing a little private tutoring off and on, because the way things are going, Social Security could soon become Social Insecurity and my TRS retirement pay will likely be piddling. Regardless, I am looking forward to at least not having the level of pressure that I am feeling now. Teaching in The Time of COVID is like teaching on steroids.
Back to blogging: I hope you keep on keeping on. Your audience needs you. XXOO
Ortizzle--Thank you. You have been one of the Originals, and I'm grateful for your Staying Power. Your very kind words are dear to me, as are you.
DeleteI thank heavens every single day that I'm no longer in the game during this pandemic crisis. Here in my area, many many schools are having in-person classes, masks mandatory, with "every effort made to social distance". HS football is being played and yada yada yada. All anyone talks about is the Safety Of The Students. As usual, no one gives a damn about the safety of the most at-risk population, The Teachers and supporting staff. But this is Ohio, Red State And Getting Redder. I could just cry.
I'm so glad you're at the University level, where the higher-ups have to consider live-in students and in junior colleges/community colleges, the commuter students coming in from all over as super-spreaders. That means online classes, which are more safe. But I do get that you have to deal with this sort of alien, Voice In The Darkness sort of instruction, then. And one that requires so much more work and stress.
Hang in there, dearie. Your students need you. XXOO
Yipes! I must be heading for about the same amount of time. Not that I have your discipline. We do share the memories, though. The kids. The 'got it!' moments. I still find joy in working with young people, especially new Canadians. Helping them get to the level they need to become citizens is endlessly rewarding.
ReplyDeleteHere's wishing you, and therefore my reading pleasure, another fifteen years and more!
Mary--Is that true? Have you been blogging that long? I'm trying to recall when (and how) I first found your site.
DeleteI'm chuckling at you mentioning my "discipline". If you mean I manage to show up here at least once or twice a month, then yes, I have discipline. I used to be a far better blogger, that's for sure, showing up twice a week. Those days are gone for sure.
If things don't take a turn for the better around here soon, maybe I'll be one of those New Canadians, and you can help me! ;-)
Thank you for your encouragement and kind words. I plan to keep on writing.
Happy anniversary!! I started out as an Ed major in college, but when I started student teaching I hated it! IT does take a special person to be a good and successful teacher. My friend's daughter teaches middle schoolers )English) and LOVES it.
ReplyDeleteVera--Thank you. Wow, you got pretty far in before you learned you needed to be something else entirely. Student teaching was usually a late quarter/semester thing when we were in college.
DeleteI'm glad you got out rather than become a miserable teacher. There are far, far too many of those. And bless your friend's daughter who teaches middle schoolers. I taught eighth grade for one year and it drove me nuts. I couldn't wait to get back to the high school where I belonged. She is a truly special woman, and those kids need her.
Happy Birthday/Anniversary! I for one am very glad you are still here.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am always amused that everyone else ALWAYS knows what you should do now ...
Bridget--Thank you. I appreciate it.
DeleteThere is never a lack of advice from others as to what we should do with our time, is there? Especially when we don't ask. ;-)
Happy Blogaversary! I guess that means I’m coming up on 15 years in November. Gosh, I sometimes miss the days when so many of my friends had blogs, and we all learned so much about each other. I’ve likely said this before, but one of my favorite things about blogging, specifically for me, is that I got my mom into it, and she LOVED it. As you know, she lived in Alaska, and I live in California, and it was a great way to keep in touch with her on an every day basis, and also to learn more about each other, certain things that might never come up in conversation.
ReplyDeleteRegarding retirement, I am always confused by people who wonder what to do with your time. Every time I’ve been between jobs, I’ve always found plenty to do. Perhaps not as much during a pandemic, but generally.
I did love hearing about teaching from you, and I am sure that your students truly adored you.
J.@jj--Thank you. I knew you were one of the Long Haulers as well. I remember when you first showed up at my site, and I mistook you for your mom somehow and began commenting at her place. It took a bit of straightening out before I finally got over to your place and we began our friendship.
DeleteYes, I have plenty to do in my nine years now of blissful retirement. I enjoy having the time to keep a neat home, do errands and shopping on weekday mornings, and pursue a few hobbies and causes I believe in. I also love the indulgence of my walks and simply doing nothing if I feel like it. I've earned it.
I'm glad you enjoyed my teaching posts. Teaching was truly my Life's Career, and I got to fulfill my dreams when I became a Teacher. It was the hardest job but the best job.
Many of my students did care for me, yes. And I hope they remember me fondly.
I enjoy your writings, and now your reflections on teaching. My sister retired from teaching two years ago, she was a music teacher and had to quit due to vocal cord damage. I loved hearing about her students. She still stays in touch with quite a few who pursued musical careers. I am also retired, my husband still works full-time. We have custody of a 12 year old so are experiencing being grandparent-parents. An interesting place to be in our lives.
ReplyDeleteJanL--Hello, and welcome to Comments at the Dept.! Thanks for reading me, and thank you for your kind words.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that your sister had to cut her career short, and for such a sad reason. That's just too bad.
My husband still works as well, much to our dismay. I've been retired from teaching now for an astonishing nine years. It's been good for both of us--much more Serenity around here.
I can't imaging having a twelve-year old right now in our lives, full-time. Bless your hearts! Interesting is only one word to describe the journey you all are on right now. Perhaps it's time you started a blog as well!
Congratulations on your anniversary. I look forward to your 16th year of blogging. I adore your answer to why you don't write a book. In my experience the people who want me to write a book have no idea what it involves to do so, but they want to know an author and they want me to be that person.
ReplyDeleteAlly--Thank you. That's an interesting take on it, that people want to know an author personally. In this age of self-publishing, the people who are so fired up about wanting to KNOW an author should just BE that author. Even self-publishing isn't without its considerable effort!
DeleteI do know a person--the relative of a former student--who is self-published and available on Amazon. His book is rife with errors, not only mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling, but narrative, plot, etc. It's sad, really. But...he did it; he's a published author!
Looking forward to many many more blogaveraries now that I've found you!!! COngrats.
ReplyDeletesteph--Thank you. I'm happy to be found!
DeleteCongrats on fifteen! I enjoy checking in here periodically to see what you have on your mind, so keep writing as the spirit moves you.
ReplyDeleteJoared--Thank you. I do plan to keep writing here "as the spirit moves me"--I like that characterization and schedule! Thanks for reading and commenting.
DeleteCongrats on the Blog turning 15, here in the Southwest you'd be throwing it a Quincenera. The Granddaughter I'm Raising turns 15 this Month and she's of Hispanic Heritage on her Dad's side, so she jokingly asked me if she was having a Quincenera? Yeah, and I'm buying you a ridiculous Gown and expect you to wear it with a Tiara too... she's an Emo/Goth Tomboy, can't recall last time I got her in a Dress or out of Black ensembles... we both laughed heartily. She's at that Age you spoke of and it is hard, especially during Pandemic, it's hard times 1,000 and so is this Home Schooling Online exclusive gig, since she's got an IEP and has Special Needs not now being addressed at all. Couple that with the fact her Principal wasn't even Born when I Graduated, so I have greater respect now for all Educators... this is certainly not my Strength to Home School/Teach! But the alternative being potential Death for us all, we'll pipe along and hope it all works out some kinda way? My biggest challenge being we all have Pandemic Insomnia and keeping her and I awake during her Online Classes is a daily task! If the Teacher's Voice is too soothing, well, we nod off. *LOL*
ReplyDeleteBohemian--Thank you! I didn't even think about a Quinceanera for my big milestone here!
DeleteOnline school certainly is a tough prospect in so many areas and for so many kids. It runs up against more challenges than most people even imagine. Keep up the fight; it's worth it.