School started this week. I know this only because I have a friend who organizes a beginning-of-the-year luncheon for the teachers at the school where we both previously worked and she asked me to help. Mostly I don’t think about it much, but I have been noticing the back-to-school ads in the newspaper and on TV. Being retired means that I can peruse them with smug happiness, knowing that I don’t have to worry about when the school year actually starts anymore. This used to be the time when I would be in panic mode, trying to get my rooms organized and lesson plans worked out before the deluge of adolescents, with their hormones raging, invaded my world.
Unfortunately I still have “school dreams.” I know I am not alone. I have talked to other retired teachers who have experienced this phenomenon too. It’s been years since I have actually been in a classroom teaching, but my subconscious seems to go there anyway. It’s not as bad as those dreams where you find yourself naked in a room full of people, thank goodness, but I still dream about some of the frustrations of teaching. At the luncheon at my old school a friend who is still working reminded me of a dream I told her about years ago where I went into my classroom and all the students were slugs. Yes slugs, like the kind that wreak havoc on my garden, except bigger. That was definitely an unusual dream. More often, my “school dreams” involve being asked to teach normal students, but under difficult circumstances. I have struggled through nights where I was trying to teach a cooking class in the wood shop or where I was crammed into a closet-like room that was overflowing with forty kids working on paintings. Last night I found I was being asked to teach five different classes. This is really a teacher’s nightmare. Usually I taught two subjects, but there were times when I had art, sewing, and foods plus a homeroom group all in different classrooms. Every time the bell rang (which was about every 55 minutes) I would have less than five minutes to grab my stuff, throw it on a rolling cart, and sprint to another room and a different subject. I had to switch gears so often I felt like I was about to swerve over the edge, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. I don’t want to give the wrong impression about teaching. There were times when I contentedly pondered the fact that I was actually getting paid to do something I loved that fed my creative soul. It was a gift to watch my students happily embroiled elbow deep in paper mache or proudly showing off the clothes they had made in the school fashion show. But I spent 34 years teaching junior high, if you get my drift. It wasn’t unusual for me to risk life and limb breaking up a fork fight in the foods lab. So what do these “school dreams” mean? When I have these kinds of dreams I know there is probably something that is frustrating and overwhelming me in the same way that my former job sometimes did. At least I stood up for myself in my dream and let the principal know that teaching 5 different classes would make it impossible for me to do a good job with any of them. There is probably something I need to do to stand up for myself today. I have learned that my junior high teacher persona can come in handy outside of the classroom. Years of dealing with junior high students taught me how important it is to be kind and understanding, but have boundaries of steel. I think my dreams are reminding me to not let my frustrations and self-doubt get in the way of taking charge of my life.
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Leslie Masona woman in search of her post-retirement future Guess what! By subscribing, you get notices about the latest Little Old Lady with Cats posts sent to your mailbox!
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(from an entry posted on 5/1/2015) “I definitely fit some of the characteristics of a little old lady with cats: Retired - check, Single - check, Like to knit - check, Have cats - check. . .I do not want to get stuck in my Little Old Lady persona, however. In fact, this blog is a risk taking experiment in exploring and redefining what I want my retired life to look like.” Categories
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