I love teaching. But I don't have a lot of pictures that I feel Ok putting on-line. If the pictures are recent I don't want to use them, and as a special Education teacher, I don't want any that might label a particular child as being part of my Special Education Program. This is from a year that was difficult in many ways. I had two toddlers, and my Dad was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in April of 1996 and Died on Feb. 1, 1997. Also the schools were overcrowded and the principal had decided that making my classroom open up and also have Mrs. Horn's kindergarten in the room with us, was a great idea. It was loud and rowdy with always some student throwing objects or having explosive temper tantrums, and it was hard to communicate effectively while the room was filled with children needing attention. My principal was frustrated that I took a week off three times during that year to fly to Wyoming to my parents home, and when he decided to combine the rooms, he gave two other teachers substitutes to come into my classroom and sort my supplies to make room for the new room, without telling me until I had started class that day, when he brought them in and told them to do whatever they needed in the cupboards. He also made sure to transfer me to a middle school Severely Emotionally Disturbed Classroom when I came back the following year after 10 years in preschool. And he sent multiple copies of every memo about my desk being disorganized or my lesson plans incomplete or . . . on and on.
Needless to say, I couldn't stand that man, but fortunately I haven't seen him for years. As always, the good part of teaching was the time spent with kids, and in spite of the way we were thrown together, Mrs. Horn and I had many good months with this group of children and our assistants. We did a lot of art and field trips and having themselves immersed in a room of "Regular Children" stressed my kids but also stretched them.
I think I never quite recovered from this year. I took the next year off to stay home with my boys and then my husband took the year after that off. then I quit being a full time teacher and have substituted ever since, although subbing and writing has been wonderful and allowed me to spend a lot of time being Mom, as the boys were growing up, I know financially we would be in a much more secure place if I hadn't stopped teaching full time. I don't regret the choice I made, but I regret making it out of exhaustion and harassment instead of out of confidence and a plan.
A little pic full of memories for you. I can empathise to some degree although I only taught dyslexic adults so I didn't face the same problems as you did.
Great photo, be glad that you had that time with your kids, we dont get it back, hopefully even tho those times were tough they have made you stronger :)
I've come to feel that "security" isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Jeff and I made a similar decision- for me to stay home and not to work. It has definitely put constraints on us financially. But I have watched too many of our friends lose jobs due to their age- they are becoming too expensive for the companies they've worked so hard for over the years and excuses like that. I've also seen several of our friends lose savings or investments as the economy has shrunk and prices go up. Houses burn, stock markets crash, catastrophic illness robs a nest egg, you name it; it can go as quickly as the wind blows. But the love you build with your children, the joy you get seeing them raise their own families and being happy with who they are. You can't lose that and it's the best investment you'll ever make. So Dixie, all that to say you are a very wealthy woman!
