School for teachers here starts in just a week. My friends are preparing their rooms. There's talk of new teachers, test scores, what's in store. I'm not part of that this year, but I find myself still getting in to it a bit.
I listened to my former teaching partner, Michael, talk about the new things he's trying this year with a tiny bit of envy. I visited my niece Michelle's preschool autism classroom and wanted to plan centers in her classroom. I'm planning on being a "penpal," or foster aunt to her students when school resumes in a few weeks, even though her students don't know me and can't read my messages themselves. I've offered to teach lessons my nephew Philip's classroom.
I'm taking a step away from the classroom, but leaving a toe in. This retirement is partially to redefine myself. So much of my identity for the past 35ish years has been my teacher identity, and it will always be a part of me.
No comments:
Post a Comment