I Really, Really Miss Teaching!

People who have never taught probably won't understand this post, but all my teacher friends will. When I left teaching for medical reasons last September, I knew that I would miss my wonderful students and amazing colleagues immensely. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about both of these groups and how much I miss being around them. But since September, I haven't given as much thought to the actual job of being a teacher, that is until these past couple of weeks.

You see, when I quit teaching, I was so busy planning and then going on my Grand Tour of Europe that I didn't spend much time thinking about my former career. As I said, I do think about my students and colleagues daily, but not the actual process of teaching. Since returning from Europe, I've had a lot of down time to think about my teaching career and I realize that I miss it very much. I miss standing in front of a class of 30 students trying to get them interested in reading. I miss encouraging them to be thinkers and creators. I even miss grading terribly written papers. 

As I was beginning my third year of teaching this past autumn, I finally felt that I had a grasp on how to be an effective teacher. I finally got my classroom set up perfectly and I was excited to be teaching the Third Year English curriculum. My students and I were going to have a spectacular year and then came the news of cancer growth and my decision to stop teaching in order to explore the world. There are days that I wonder if I made the right choice. I love traveling and am so grateful that I could spend two months traveling Europe. I'm looking forward to my upcoming Great American Road Trip, which I hope to start late next week, but there are days that I want my old life back...

I want to stand in my classroom, explaining to students that reading is actually beneficial to them. I want to sit with my teacher friends and colleagues who became my extended family. I want all 130 students coming into my classroom where I could perhaps teach them something new. I want to sit in my classroom during my planning period and just smile at the student work hanging on the wall. I want to walk the hallways and greet the students with a smile and a laugh. I want to go home after a long workday to my sweet apartment in Newburyport. I want my amazing kitty, Lotta greeting me as I walk through the door.

Okay, perhaps I'm a little sentimental today and making it seem like my high school was the perfect place in which to work. It wasn't. There are no perfect places/jobs/careers. It was incredibly long and exhausting hours, lost weekends of lesson planning and grading, lots of annoying paperwork, and oftentimes disheartening. It was the hardest job that I ever had. But it was also the best job that I ever had and I miss it so very much. 

Let's salute every teacher out there who is fighting the good fight.