I love March, when during the Slice of Life Challenge, I commit to writing on a daily basis. It's fun during 31 days of posts to watch the ebb and flow of my writing. Some days I'll be incredibly pleased with how a post turned out; other days I'll just be glad I posted anything at all. A huge thanks to the gang at Two Writing Teachers for hosting, organizing, and commenting on this ginormous event each year. I appreciate the community of writers you encourage the entire month of March, and all the Tuesdays the rest of the year. Thank you, thank you.
**This March, I plan to connect as many posts as possible to my #OLW for the year - SAVOR.**
As I move forward to that official retirement date, I have been thinking of those things I'll miss after retirement. From time to time during the month, I may be sharing some of those with you. Thanks for humoring me.
Tonight after school, I took part in one of the two book studies I facilitate each month. As I drove to the school that was hosting, I couldn't help but reflect on all the ways I will miss these book studies.
I will miss our actual gatherings:
- The time to come together with colleagues from different buildings to build personal and professional relationships.
- Each "host" providing an after-school snack; it adds to the relaxed structure and camaraderie of our time together.
- The sharing of ideas that takes place during each conversation - thoughtful, collaborative, encouraging, and reflective.
- The ways we keep student growth and learning at the forefront of our conversations.
- The honesty in the ways we look at ourselves when thinking about refining our instructional practices.
And I will also miss the preparation for the study groups:
- Reading and rereading the assigned pages before the meeting.
- Marking the text as I read to hold on to "can't miss" ideas
- Searching for the right video clip, blog post, or snippet to complement the focus of the month.
- Laying out an agenda to help propel our thinking forward.
- Reflecting on how this professional read has real-life applications in our work.
- Responding to the reflections on our shared Google doc - our "conversation" outside of our actual face to face time.
I will miss these conversations and the collegiality. I plan to savor each book study experience between now and May 25!
You may retire, but it sounds like you have the kind of dedication that will not. You will re-imagine a way to create a similar experience. Best wishes to you.
ReplyDeleteYou may retire, but it sounds like you have the kind of dedication that will not. You will re-imagine a way to create a similar experience. Best wishes to you.
ReplyDeleteWow... sounds like such special gatherings! I'm sure they will miss your presence!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thing you are a part of. I bet you will you will always be a life long learner and teacher and I hope you enjoy your retirement.
ReplyDeleteWow wow wow. Retirement! So big. My mom retired from 35 years of teaching a few years ago and has loved retirement. I hope you do, too!
ReplyDeleteI'm a heart beat from retirement and I too will miss the discussions and most importantly the kids.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can come visit me next year and hang out in my classroom? :)
ReplyDeleteI plan on taking many road trips soon, so if you invite me to your classroom, I'm more than happy to visit! ;)
DeleteIf you go to Monticello, just point your car north for about 3 hours and come to Northbrook! :-)
DeleteI will see what I can do! ;)
DeleteYour reflections brought to mind the book study groups I used to participate in before retirement. Truly, some of the best learning that occurred as an educator came from the book studies and support we gave each other to implement the things we were learning about. Good times for sure. I can see why you'll miss it. There will be other ways to share book love and learning.
ReplyDeleteI'll be in this place within the next few years. I can't, at this point, imagine my life without this job I have loved so much for so many years. Keep thinking I will slice about it…
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