Thanksgiving Day

One of the shortest writing assignments I ever gave was the Thanksgiving Day Prayer. The length was 100 words or less and it could be in prose or in poetry form. As with all my writing assignments, I, too, wrote along with my students. Here's one of mine from the past that I'd like to share with you.

A THANKSGIVING DAY PRAYER

THANK YOU, LORD,
FOR A DAY LIKE THIS
WHEN WE GATHER WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS
TO SHARE AND TO REMINISCE.

THANK YOU, FOR THE MEAL
AND ALL THE TREATS:
YAMS, RELISHES, PIES,
AND MOIST WHITE MEAT.

THANK YOU, FOR HEALTH
AND YES, "GOOD CHEER"
TO OUR GUESTS WHO TRAVELED
AND TO THOSE WHO LIVE NEAR.

AND LASTLY, LORD,
WE GIVE BIG THANKS TO YOU
FOR LIFE, FOR LIBERTY,
AND FOR THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE.

AMEN.

What I miss about teaching.

Since my retirement in June, I have been asked one question more that any other. "What do you miss about teaching?" Tough question. After I thought about it for some time, it became clear to me that it would be better to list what I don't miss about teaching and then be left with what I really do miss. So here goes. I don't miss faculty meetings. I don't miss previewing new textbooks. I don't miss computer-generated grading programs. I don't miss petty people. I don't miss classroom interruptions. I don't miss all the paperwork. I don't miss setting my alarm clock to 6 a.m. But, I do miss working with talented and intelligent teachers like Mr. Zanotti and Ms. VanThournout. And, here's the big one, I really miss being with junior high students. They are full of enthusiasm, curiosity, drama, good humor, and fun to be around. So simply put, the best answer to the question I can give is that I miss those students.

Retirement Daze

It seems that just the other day I was looking out my classroom window on a gray November day thinking about what it would be like to be retired; and here I am a retired man on a gray November day in Michigan. Well, the first thing I can tell you is that days, weeks, and months move very fast. It was on the weekend following the last day of school , June 6, 2008, that I convinced the Mrs. that it was time to toss in the old record book and call it quits. I began teaching in 1968 and at SJA since 1971, that's a lot of teaching. As a teacher, my life paralleled that of my students: school starts in late August or early September, time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter /spring break, graduations, and school's out. The summer months are used to relax, recharge, and to get ready for the next school year. There's a routine and a rhythm to teaching. In retirement, the sky's the limit. In future posts I plan to recount stories from school , the classroom, and activities from retirement. So enjoy the season and get ready for Thanksgiving.