No one really asked, but….

One teacher’s final farewell.

The beginning of the end – I can’t believe it’s here.  I, along with two close friends who were hired the same year, are about to enter our 25^th year, our last year of teaching middle school.  It’s hard not to reflect on how things have changed in these 25 years.  First of all, I can’t believe I had the guts, or maybe foolishness, to quit my job in Human Resources to finish school and join the job search for a teaching position.  Thank God it worked out, and thank you to my parents for their financial support and encouragement, and to my brother, Donnie, whose last gift to me was the opportunity to fulfill a dream.

I am grateful to my first principal for hiring me.  At the time, I didn’t even realize how lucky I was to get the job.  Now I do.  Those of us who worked for Peggy know how she made us want to work hard to live up to her expectations.  She had a way of making teachers feel good about what we were doing.  We found ourselves saying yes to almost anything she asked of us because we all respected her so much.  That respect was reciprocated.

In 25 years, a few things have changed, to say the least.  Sadly, in my view, teachers have less of a voice each year, and are more and more reluctant to express it.  

I sometimes ask my fellow teachers whether anyone has ever asked for their opinions, such as what obstacles we face within the classroom, how administrators could help make our job easier, or what we do in our classrooms that seems to work.  The answer is almost always no.

So, although no one has really asked me in quite some time, I will use my voice during  this last year of teaching to give my professional opinions on these topics as well as others, including how to improve education.