Reflections on Not Teaching
I have been out of the classroom now for a few years. I taught English 7th, 8th, and 9th grade English for 23 years.
For me, going into a regular line of work has given me my life back. As an English teacher, I graded and planned every evening and most of every Sunday during the school year. There were also the after-school meetings, the committees, the curriculum mapping, the club sponsorships, the union work, and the myriad stresses of having to be on stage with fresh material every day. And the calls to parents, the calls from parents. The angry emails. The recommendation letters. The record-keeping. The toll that teenagers take, and they take a toll.
I feel like I missed most of my 20's and 30's and part of my 40's.
Now I read the books I want to read, like a normal person. I spend Sundays with my friends, rather than hunched over a stack of papers. And the best part is that when I'm at my job, I have the distinct feeling that the job is
For me, going into a regular line of work has given me my life back. As an English teacher, I graded and planned every evening and most of every Sunday during the school year. There were also the after-school meetings, the committees, the curriculum mapping, the club sponsorships, the union work, and the myriad stresses of having to be on stage with fresh material every day. And the calls to parents, the calls from parents. The angry emails. The recommendation letters. The record-keeping. The toll that teenagers take, and they take a toll.
I feel like I missed most of my 20's and 30's and part of my 40's.
Now I read the books I want to read, like a normal person. I spend Sundays with my friends, rather than hunched over a stack of papers. And the best part is that when I'm at my job, I have the distinct feeling that the job is
