Freshmen?

A former colleague of mine and her husband will be blessed with twins, probably in late August, to join their three other children, making a large and happy family. She will be on child-bearing leave for all of the first term of the upcoming school year. This much is true. Unfortunately, the educator who was signed up to be her substitute for term 1 has backed out due to the success of a business that she and her mother started earlier in the year. I know you can see what's coming.

The phone rang while I was out on my back deck, and the answering machine picked up before I could get to it. Floating through the air came the voice of my esteemed department chair, explaining that he had some very sad news. Thinking that it might be about one of the others in the department or another former colleague, I picked up and listened to his news (above) and his plea for me to consider taking the position.

My heart didn't sink to my toes, but I didn't jump for joy either. It's been more than a decade - in fact it's been two decades - since I last taught freshmen, and then only one class of them. At the time, I told anyone who would listen, "Never again," and was promised that would be the case. And now I'm being asked to consider a full schedule of them? Hmm.

Pros: As jobs go, I'm someone who wouldn't need training in classroom management, chain of command, daily routines, or anything that a newbie would need, so I wouldn't need to attend those pre-pre-student days in August being brought up to speed. Normal sub pay applies during the first week, but after that a larger stipend as long-term sub would add to my little stash of funds for travel and, I'm pretty sure, not exceed what I could earn as a retired educator drawing teacher retirement. It would probably remind me viscerally, on a daily basis, why I retired, so it would make me overjoyed at the start of November when the term ends and the liberation resumes. I'd get to schmooze with my former colleagues for a while longer. The freshmen would certainly begin their high school careers with a steady educator with some clear, strong, and fair expectations. I could participate in STAPLES' Teacher Appreciation Day in early August. Wooo hoo!

Cons: Freshmen? Really?? This is the group that was described to me two days ago as "half dream, half nightmare," in which there are several "high profile" students who will be part of the new discipline protocol from day 1. There are no honors students among the five classes to be taught, those students going to another more fortunate teacher. Classes will meet in the smallest of the English classrooms, right beside the noisy, dynamic science teacher. I haven't read any of the material in the freshman literature book. As much as I appreciate my former department chair's confidence in me, I'm not so happy about giving up September and October of my first year of retirement.

I'm going to have to ponder this and bounce it off my husband, even though he'll probably respond with, "You do what you think best."

Freshmen?

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Follow-up: Back in 1992, eight years after I'd quit coaching basketball cheerleading, the newly hired coach quit and I agreed to coach for one more year. A week into the season I knew I'd made a mistake. The next three months were long and unhappy for me. Today's proposal feels way too much like that, so in the name of learning from past experience, I've declined, and I feel fine about that. : )