Ten years ago I left the classroom to further my pursuit of identifying best practices in education. My work as an early literacy consultant allows me to ask the questions everyone else is afraid to ask and to provide a listening ear.
Contrary to popular belief all veteran teachers who retire from their classroom responsibilities do not simply fade away to the golf course or a condo in Florida. Many use the time as an opportunity to travel to all the places they taught about, help raise their grandchildren or volunteer. I decided to pamper myself and treat every day as a snowday.
After a whirlwind trip out west I spent my first three months of retirement “sleeping in.” That soon became old and I indulged in a pastime that never became a habit-watching TV. After about a week of sitting in my PJ’s until noon I called all of my friends and invited them to lunch. We talked teacher talk. I finally asked myself the question, “Is that all there is?”
Since I neither play golf nor have grandchildren in the past nine years I: completed a degree in educational administration, taught a group of teachers in a foreign country, learned a little about gardening, went on a silent retreat-but I wasn’t, practiced yoga at sunset on a boathouse rooftop, learned a little about water painting, took a law class, made ravioli from scratch, survived a knee replacement, tutored a family from BURUNDI, watched our two daughters get married, added a new gathering place kitchen to my home, took a writing class, an art class, a piano-in-a-day class and tried my hand at painting and fiddling, co-taught at a national conference with a children’s musician, made a baby quilt, survived the empty nest syndrome, taught over 50 workshops throughout the country, read over 100 books, made a concerted effort to change the kindergarten entrance age in NYS, went white water rafting in Montana, took a cooking class in France, mastered g mail and facebook , survived a thunderstorm in a tent, cleaned some of my closets, sorted some of my children’s books, organized some of the shelves in my office, started writing half a dozen books and finally recovered from my mother’s accidental death. I have asked a million questions, wondered about the answers and thought and thought and thought.
I am a 32 year veteran of the classroom and I still continue to notice, wonder and think about the things that worked and those that don’t. I consider myself a lifelong learner and will talk about those things I notice in everyday life. I will share my craft knowledge and include tips on parenting/teaching when I feel it is appropriate.
Today I finished a book I’ve been writing and I’m ready for something new. Sooo…..here I go blogging along.
misssuzie 