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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Daily Kos: A brief moment of personal reflection

Daily Kos: A brief moment of personal reflection:


A brief moment of personal reflection

In exactly two weeks I will turn 66.  Each year as May 23 approaches, I find myself reflecting, looking back on the year that has passed, wondering what if anything I might have to offer on that date itself.  Certainly in the year that I turned 60 that seemed most appropriate.
This year is somewhat different.  My birthday will occur less than  3 weeks before I leave the school at which I have taught, except for one year, since 1998.  It will be exactly one week before my department holds an informal reception to honor me, one to which several of my former principals, one from this school and one from my first school, have agreed to come.
By then I may know what I will be doing next year, or perhaps I will be as uncertain as I am now as to what the future may hold.
One week from now will be the day after my students have taken their Advanced Placement examination.  Yesterday was the last FORMAL practice they will have, and it was eye opening for a few.  Out of the 25 questions, 6 were of the type "which of the following .... EXCEPT"  and many students missed four or more of those because they did not force themselves to look at ALL the answers, and thus catch themselves on the key word, EXCEPT.  I have done what I can to prepare them for HOW to take the test.
But yesterday was also a touching day in other ways.
Let me explain