The beginning of the end

Tomorrow begins my last year as a full-time classroom teacher of high school English. Yes, we met our classes last week for two days, but those don't really count. One day was spent moving from place to place, shuffling new schedules, new handbooks, new rules, new students and personnel and then dashing through shortened classes to meet and greet. The other entailed setting the tone for the year, distributing books, handing out course competencies, and other mundane activities, except for Creative Writing. I took them to several places inside the building to just listen and then record what they heard; I might as well get them accustomed to using their senses early and to knowing that this class isn't like English classes they've taken before. After this Labor Day, the real work commences, the end begins.

I've wondered if this final year will look and feel different than the previous 39. With more than 100 sick/professional/personal days accumulated comes the temptation to use as many as I can since they are a "benefit" and there's no compensation for not using them. Since this is the final time that I'll be teaching these classes, simply repeating lessons and projects assigned last year, only using Wite-Out to change the due dates, seems to be the best way to save time and energy. Because I won't be using them in the future, there's the temptation to leave the pages of my new planner blank. But I don't think I can fully indulge in these alluring behaviors. I'm not wired that way. I'm not saying that I'll refuse to take an extra day if there's some strong motivation, that every task and assessment will be brand new, or that every square in every lesson plan for every day will be crammed with information, but my intention is to live this year as I've lived the rest of my teaching career: aimed at helping kids understand their connection to others in the world and their ability to express themselves through a sound understanding of literature and good writing skills.

A year from now I'll be doing something different, not planning these next four days of classes to be taught by me. What I will be doing remains undecided but not really a mystery. I'll still be reading (mostly novels), still trying out interesting looking recipes, still watching Days of Our Lives and wondering if Sami's life will ever be smooth sailing, still blogging occasionally, emailing, Facebooking and chatting often, still making jewelry, feeding my dog tiny MilkBones, yelling at the Red Sox, doing the laundry, staying in touch with family, shooting photos, and the hundreds of other things that I typically do now. Between now and then I'll remain open to opportunity and decide what may expand, increase, or be added to my life. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the ride.