Learning forever. Why I am heading back to the classroom.

 

Back to school starts in most of our community next week. How did that happen? Summer flew by again!

Teachers and staff go back on Monday, and so will I. I’ve already spent hours in my classroom just putting everything back where it should be after the summer cleaning and floor waxing. Being careful not to drag anything and scratch the floor, I keep forgetting I am retired! Yep, getting older is quite the adventure.

Anyway, as I ponder what my school year will be like, I am still incredibly grateful and excited this opportunity dropped in my lap. It’s a different position. I'm not technically a teacher, but I have a classroom. My title is paraprofessional, but I feel like I am more than a TA or an admin. It’s going to be interesting, to say the least!

I will have kids in my classroom working towards graduation, but I won’t be lecturing. They do their classwork online, and I am mostly there for supervision, help, support, and encouragement in our Alternative High School.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Teaching and caring for our next graduates is always a learning experience. Kids have so much to offer if one just listens to them. Plus, chances are if one of the students needs help with a subject and I don’t know the answer, we will research it together. Thus, the kids are teaching me at the same time I am teaching them.

I’m kind of a stickler when it comes to manners and etiquette. Hopefully, they won’t judge me too badly for it, and maybe some of it will rub off on them? There’s nothing more important for a leader than to be kind and polite. Not that all students are expected to be leaders, but kindness and the ability to be polite is hopefully something we can pass onto the young.

The world is changing so quickly, and I feel the best way to handle the change is to keep growing and learning from it. So, it's with great enthusiasm that I reenter the world of education. I want to help today's kids learn how to learn in an ever-changing world, and to give them the confidence needed to succeed at their wildest dreams.

Too mushy? I know, but it’s true. Life deals all of us so much. There is a lot to juggle and balance, and a lot to learn that might change tomorrow. Today is about learning to deal with the facts as best we can, because who knows what magic lies around the corner? Hopefully, a cure to a terrible disease, world peace, or a solution for climate change. Or maybe just learning how to live day-to-day knowing that there is a person at your school who will always be there for you.

Whatever I can be to each individual student is what God will decide. I am grateful to be able to give guidance and support to our District of Champions. Who knows what greatness will come from our next graduate!