For thousands of students and hundreds of teachers, today is the first day of school here in Brevard County, Florida. When I fist retired from teaching, this is the day I went to the beach. That was the fall of 2012. I did that for the first few years on the first day to define my new-found freedom, to relax on what previously was a tense happy-sad day, to pray, and to express gratitude to God that I did not have 130 or so new students to meet, greet, and “adopt” for the year, and that no administrator’s whims would upset my daily routine I’d carefully planned. I always had to spend time in meetings (most of which could have preventably been whittled down to a brief memo so that I could be accomplishing something meaningful, or we had scheduled or unscheduled interruptions just as I’d captured restless and terrified students for my alloted forty-two minutes before we were dismissed by a clanging bell or clamorous buzzer. I had great memories of the highlights and many memories of the valleys of my forty-year career.
Now, the first day is like this: I’ll write a text message to Paul, Mary, and Nancy, our children, and to the grandkids, Kaley and Emily with a Bible verse. Today’s theme is confidence. “The Lord is my lgiht and my salvation– so whoyshould I be afraid? The Lord protects me from danger–so why should I tremble? Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain confident.” Psalm 27:1,3 is a good place to start.
I don’t have to be concerned when an administrator interrupts my class with an unannounced observation (or even be concerned when I’ve prepared for a scheduled observation–many of which, after planning a unique lesson, were cancelled or forgotten by the observer. I don’t have to worry when the secret message is emailed to “remain in place until further notice” wondering if there’s a bomb scare or gunman, or building malfunction. I don’t have to have a fire drill or tornado drill just when I’ve passed out the test questions and now security of my test questions is jeopardized, or I don’t have to look out the window and see an ambulance or police presence and quickly shut the blinds so students haven’t a clue it’s not just a routine day. These are the realities until the campuses became jail-like locked fortresses. One would ask why students are jailed and criminals roam free. It’s one of those ironies of modern life.
So, I would have, and did, have a Daily Vitamin (a quote to grow kids’ minds and give them something for “bell work” class beginning as they wrote and respondie to the quote in their journals (or not), I did not have to assure myself that the day’s lesson purpose was clearly displayed on the board, I did not assure myself that every student was “on task,” I remembered to return test papers myself so that kids’ privacy was protected, I did make sure that every day students were taking notes and reading and speaking and could summarize the lesson before the alloted forty-two minutes ended and did not catch me in the middle of a sentence, and I did announce the purpose of the carefully-designed homework or project and its deadline. Not today!
Today, I will meet by ZOOM with my writer-critique group and teach my senior writers so they bein their next memoir book. I will get my “encouragement” hat on, forget to fret about my own writing piece I presented to my writing buddies which now is peppered with comma errors and things I should probably revise but might now, and I’ll have pages of writing my seniors did during our brief recess from June until now, and I’ll have hours of typing ahead of me. That reminiscent of teaching in twenty-five or so classrooms through the years. and no, I’m no longer going to the beach. I have other tasks to accomplish.
One, our air conditioner has not been working all weekend. We have a portable “loud” one in the living room which has kept us somewhat comfortable. I have further complications in getting my younger sister moved from New York to here to her new assisted living situation, the car has to go to the collision shop because it was damaged last week and needs a new door, fender, and hood, and I must plan dinner for exactly five o’clock when our daughter collapses at our door after her first day of school. Hubby and I will hear about all the things I used to experience, and I promise myself, I won’t long for those days to return.
I’ve got enough to do today. And I will remember my Lord protects me from danger, so why should I tremble? He’s got this, and I am His, and I can face my day and days ahead with confidence and joy and good memories and hopes for more of them!
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