And …That’s a Wrap!

Teachers on the Last Day of School

Ok, so there was an SNL skit that I was seriously contemplating, but I felt like it didn’t quite set the proper tone I wanted for this newsletter. HOWEVER, I gotta say, it was SO FUNNY and SO TRUE! Oh my goodness, I was in tears! (I’ll let you discover that one on your own)

But I digress.

When I first started teaching, I had to tell my principal that the reason why I had not decorated the old wood shop, my classroom for my special needs class, was that I had not yet received my first paycheck. I told him that I would buy supplies for the classroom in October, when I received my monthly check. 

He said, “Ok.”

When I first started teaching, there were no cell phones nor internet. But I loved exploring with students the outdoors and collaborating with teachers. I collaborated with another special needs teacher and the LION’s Club who sponsored and joined us for a long weekend up in the mountains camping. 

When I first started teaching, my Deaf and Hard of Hearing class was the most diverse group of students I had ever taught. My students had become Deaf for various reasons and teaching in American Sign Language was not always their home language - so we modified. 

In collaboration with the YMCA, we started YMCA Deaf Camp. In the fifth year of camp, the camp was completely directed by Deaf Camp Directors and Staff. By the time we had grown to this point, I was married and pregnant with my first child. I remember thinking, “I’m all grown up now, and I won’t be able to attend camp anymore.”

Ok, I was 37 years old at the time and OF COURSE I ATTENDED CAMP AGAIN! I’m 63 years old now and I still attend camp to THIS DAY. 

(It must have been the hormones …)

When I work with my new university of Utah reading clinic students, I always tell them, “I hope you get the hard schools and the most difficult classrooms first.”

This is when they look at me strangely like,“ What are you talking about Lady?”

But the truth is if you can get the hardest stuff done first, and then you survive it, then you know you can do it forever. You know that you were meant to be a teacher.

When I first started teaching, I loved witnessing the subtleties of growth. 

I loved seeing light bulbs go off in their eyes and brains. 

I loved teaching.

I still do.

I’ll be heading to California this summer

to attend camp.

Yep, you got it.

To attend camp.

Easter Seals Camp to be specific.

Year: 51

To me, there is something about getting through those hardest obstacles because somewhere you know there is gold in what you do. That has been my teaching journey. What is your journey?