Reflections on Retirement

Retirement.... isn't that supposed to be a time to look back on your accomplishments, and travel and enjoy life?  Hmmm... I think that holds more true for my parent's generation than mine because we've lived through the dot.com bubble, and the economic squeeze of 2008, barely surviving with our savings intact. In addition, the government keeps threatening to take away Social Security, calling it an "Entitlement" when in reality it's more of a savings account (which involuntarily came out of our pay checks).    

Since I reached this milestone in a precipitous manner, and a little before I'm ready financially to afford the luxuries of my parent's retirement, the coming months are full of mixed feelings.  I wonder if that is true for all my colleagues taking the same step I am?  As I watch many of those my age celebrate their retirements, I wonder why I don't seem to be celebrating mine.... 

I know that the manner in which my career was divided up helps to make it feel that I have no one to celebrate with.  I don't have a set group that I always worked with over my 42 years in education.  I spent 5 years in one school, 15 years in one district and then later returned to add 7 more years in that same district (but in 3 different schools), and spent 15 years  in a conglomeration of higher education, online schools, pre-school, and substituting in  school districts  both in Maryland and in Colorado.  It made for some unique experiences, and all added to my professional development as an educator. It means I've touched thousands of students either directly (over 2500 middle  and high school students,  over 400 primary or elementary students), and thousands of others through the teachers I've trained or the professors I've worked with who changed their teaching through what I taught them.  I've also touched numbers of virtual students through the online projects with Kidlink or the two online schools where I taught.  Through the Kidlink experiences, I met global colleagues and students from foreign countries. 

I earned a Master's equivalency, then went on to get a real Master's degree, and eventually achieved a doctorate.  I've also presented at many conferences to share my experiences, been given a couple of awards, and published  a book and articles.  

So what happens to all that knowledge and experience, once one retires?  I'm sure my colleagues are also faced with the same questions.... what do I do with all those binders of training materials.... training I've taken, and training I've developed?   Those materials set the groundwork for education today, they are a part of history, yet a history that no longer exists and can't be used by the new generations of educators.  What about all those grade books I saved for years, lugged across country and back, and still sit in my basement?  I've saved them "just in case" a parent came back years later stating that something was wrong with a grade (don't laugh, it happened!).  Do I just toss all that?  I'll probably have a burning party with the grades eventually because it is too much to sit and shred (even though I'm retired), and it has personal info of students on it.   

Since my grand kids recently moved back in with me, I figured some of the teaching materials will get  used for playing school during summer months, and the training materials and grade books will make a great campfire for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores  :-)  ...  

So I know my educational career was rich  and I've left my mark if only so slight, and although I'm not celebrating with a party, I'm celebrating in my own way...... with a virtual celebration..... and who knows what life will bring next????    a new career, or just time to celebrate and enjoy my family....  

The myth of tenure..... is hurting students

Tenure... that word that supposedly protects teachers... the one that everyone claims keeps bad teachers in the classroom, was proven wrong today, especially in my district.  You see, I got riff'd today!  Yep... and I have tenure and many years of experience.... so if the myth is true, then it should have protected me.  Even recently getting my doctorate so I'm current in my field (Computer Science), and winning a Curriculum Award from the district, and getting runner-up for best paper at a state conference, and presenting at a National conference in my field didn't protect me.  Being in Computer Science seems to be a detriment in this district, as many of the first to be let go were Computer Science teachers with tenure.  That's extremely sad for our students.  You see, we are a district that has lots of BRAC potential, touted that our county would grow with the influx of high tech positions, and it is predicted that our students will have good chances of employment in that field in this district in the next 10 years.   But if they don't have Computer teachers, how are they going to learn the skills needed for those positions?

So if those in my field and my district feel that I am sharp enough to win those awards, why didn't they keep me?  It all comes down to money.... our county executive cut his portion of paying for public education in the district, and the district has to rearrange its budget. I haven't a clue about how they decided, but they are "cutting programs" and our program is the first to go.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our Chief Information Officer has not supported our programs for the last several years.  Maybe it has something to do with the perception that kids are born with technology skills (they may be, but they haven't a clue how to make them "work"  for them rather than be a toy).  Someone needs to teach them how to adapt those programs to what they are learning in the classroom. 

Maybe it has something to do with the new Common Core Standards that supposedly have a STEM base to them, yet don't mention computer skills anywhere in the standards.  They focus on Engineering, Mathematics, and Science, yet when professional development is offered, the technology piece (in particular careers in Computer Science like database administration, technical support, network engineers,  software engineers, programmers, are never mentioned as possible careers for kids in STEM).  

So what's my next step?  Not sure at this point... I'll be exploring how I can use that newly acquired doctorate, trying my hand with writing again this summer, and exploring what retirement might look like....  hopefully I'll find a window of opportunity ... and soar through it..   although it won't be one that promises "tenure".