I’m about three weeks into not being an elementary school teacher for the first time in 27 years, and so far, despite missing some friends and former colleagues whom I once saw every day and aching a tiny bit for the presence of ten-year-olds, things have been okay.
I’ve been busy.
My current clients are thrilled about my newfound availability. Instead of squeezing them in before and after school, I can meet with them during the day, which has made things much easier for them and me.
I also landed a new client and a very large job that has kept me working more than I expected, and it will continue to do so for at least the rest of the month. This might be a blessing in disguise, not only to my checking account but also to my transition into this new role.
It’s keeping me distracted. I haven’t had time to think about my former role as a teacher.
My business partner from Israel also visited last week, and I’ve been able to meet a partner in another one of my businesses more regularly, which has also been great.
Things are moving along at a much greater pace than ever before.
I’ve delivered keynotes at two local conferences and traveled to San Francisco and New York for two more, and I’m preparing for trips within the next two months to North Carolina, Arkansas, London, Amsterdam, Montreal, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, and San Francisco again.
I’m also working on books and preparing publicity for my latest novel, which hits bookstores in January,
So I’m busy, which I suspect has kept my mind off the school just five minutes from my home, where so many of my friends are working hard and changing lives.
I have yet to visit simply because of this sudden influx of work, but I will soon. I can’t wait.
I’ve also begun the process of registering as a substitute teacher in case my former principal and colleagues find themselves in a pinch, and maybe even substituting for Elysha when she needs to be out.
That will be fun.
But along with the things I may miss about teaching, there are things I don’t miss, too, and focusing on those can help on days when my mind wanders to my friends and my former life.
Today’s thing I don’t miss:
When my former school district decided to launch a new initiative, deeming it critical enough to spend many hours in meetings disseminating, planning, training, and implementing, they would often buy one of the books upon which the initiative was based for a team of three to five teachers to share.
It amounted to something like this:
“Hey, we’ve found something that will be truly transformational to your teaching and your students. We can’t believe how amazing this newfound system is, and we want you to embrace it wholeheartedly. We’ll invest countless hours in meetings, poorly designed PowerPoint presentations, and training sessions on this initiative to help you prepare. And the tome upon which this system is founded — the font of knowledge and wisdom that pointed us in this direction — is this book, chock-full of wisdom, insight, and glory.
Behold! The guide to your future success as an educator! The text you will need to change your students’ lives!
Please share it with your three other overworked grade-level teachers who have absolutely no time to read during the school day.”
If you want to minimize the impact of an initiative, convince teachers it wasn’t so important after all, and reinforce the idea that teachers are rarely viewed as professionals, this is a perfect way to take a possibly great idea and stomp on it with frugality and stupidity.
I do not miss this bit of educational lunacy.
