Into the Harbor

I have been out to sea for a long time, the sea of teaching and being a captain of my classroom. Many  years ago I signed my first contract as a sixth grade teacher. I knew enough about teaching to fill a thimble but my enthusiasm and naivete helped me believe I could keep signing contracts for years ahead. And I did. Thirty-one times, to be exact.

My time at sea has been an adventure, for sure. There were days of beautiful calm and serenity. My lessons clicked with the students. Heads nodded in understanding. Laughter burst forth over a shared funny moment. Hands were raised in thoughtful response. And I believed we would arrive at our destination in a timely manner. And sometimes we did.

There were also days of rough waters, filled with crashing waves and uncertainty. Unruly students with miserable attitudes, demanding enormous amounts of attention. Lessons gone awry and not well received. Meetings with unhappy and irrational parents. Forms, forms and more forms. E-mails queued up to kingdom come. Days when I was googling, jobs-for-has-been-teachers.

Most days were somewhere in-between. Not exactly sunshine and still waters. But not frothing waters and scurvy, either. The days when the rhythm of a classroom chugs along. Warm-ups are completed. Lessons are introduced. Assignments are given. Diligent students do their work. Stubborn students test the limits of tolerance. Papers are graded and returned. To-do lists are completed and another one is written. Students are greeted for the day and given a farewell as they exit with the final bell.

And now it is time to pull the ship into harbor. I am closing this chapter of my life. I met amazing folks along the way. My colleagues and I weathered many storms. We laughed until we cried and we shared the language of educators, determined to do what is best for our students. I listened to countless in-service speakers, some memorable and others not so much. I taught many subjects at three different grade levels. I conducted hundreds of parent-teacher conferences. I learned the names of a new crop of students each year and I watched them navigate their own waters of life. I felt the tides of "best practices" ebb and flow. And I hunkered down for the next technological flavor of the month. Teaching is never dull. And I have no regrets for choosing this profession. Nary a one.

Now the new chapter begins. I do not have fancy plans for the next steps. No fabulous encore job awaits me. I won't be traveling to exotic lands abroad any time soon. I don't have a cabin by a lake or a second home in the mountains. I suspect my semi-agoraphobic nature will keep me tethered to home base, for a while at least. I will continue to try a new recipe or two and I will enjoy my local library even more.

When next fall rolls around and I watch most of my fellow teachers head out to sea for another year of active duty, I will raise my cup of coffee in salute to some of the strongest people I know. I will also lift up a prayer for safe voyages and the stamina it takes to educate precious cargo. Above all, my fellow teachers, keep your desk drawers stocked with chocolate and a box or two of golf pencils. It is always good to be prepared.