Another Chapter Begins….

Thursday, February 29th – It was on this day last week that I ended one chapter in my life. A somewhat somber chapter in which two people thought they had found someone that they’d be spending the rest of their lives with, but such was not to be. Last Thursday marked the official end of that saga. Tomorrow a new adventure is set to begin.

Just before winter break, the principal of the school I had worked at approached me about taking an interim position. Although at that point he wasn’t able to tell me who the teacher was, he did say it was a language arts position. The teacher that was at that point leading the class had decided to retire on March 1st of this year. I did some research on my own and was able to find out who the teacher was and at that point agreed to fill the position until the end of the school year.

Tomorrow is my first day as the teacher of record for a seventh grade language arts class. I will be working with three other teachers, one of whom is a teacher I worked with my last full year of teaching. The teacher whose place I’m taking was another teacher I had worked with during that time.

For most of my twenty-nine year full time career, I taught math and science. I have done over twenty interim positions since my 2010 retirement and most all of those have been either math or science. So I guess one can say that this subject matter is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I’m up to the challenge.

I will have to say that I had grown used to just working two or three days a week. This job will require that I work an average of four days a week and that will take some getting used to. Tonight as I shower and shave and ready tomorrow’s wardrobe, I’m filled with a few butterflies. It’s the usual beginning-of-the-year butterflies that I had grown used to, but these are in flight 3/4 the way through the school year.

There will be a period of adjustment for both myself and the students. They are more used to the routine than I am. And I’m sure they’ve grown accustomed to the ways of the teacher they’ve had since the start of the school. But adjustment and change are a part of each of our life stories and I’m sure we’ll be just fine.

Another chapter,,,,another adventure awaits. The previous sights in the rearview grow smaller each day.

David Lee

Daily Writing Prompt

Daily writing prompt
Do you enjoy your job?
View all responses

I will let my body of work speak for itself. I started teaching in 1981. After twenty-nine years, I retired. Since that time, I’ve done over twenty interim positions and countless substitute teaching jobs. I start yet another interim position tomorrow. All told, I’ve been teaching for forty-four school terms. I would say that answers this question completely.

A Week and a Half into My Sabbatical – The Number Say a Lot….

It’s been a week and a half since I started my sabbatical from social media, namely Facebook. Since that point in time, I’ve been posting on my WordPress website and that allows me to keep track of views and such.

This first graph shows a number of daily visitors to my page. February 19th got the most visitors and views, with 41 views and 30 visitors. The day previous to that, February 18th got 29 visitors and 29 views.

I know there are a few readers who are clicking the available link on my FB page to access my posts here, but WordPress itself has been the biggest supporter by far. Most all of my readers have subscribed to my blog on here.

David Lee

One Year Mark of Smoking Cessation…

Today marks 365 consecutive days of not smoking a cigarette. There have been those times I’ve come close to lighting up, but have been able to stay away from any purchase or smoking of cigarettes.

While I have been able to stay away from smoking, I still do take nicotine lozenges or gum. And while I know it’s better than inhaling all those other chemicals and of course the smoke, I need to wean my way off those as well.

Last December I had nearly 6 months of going without a cigarette when I fell off the wagon. And it took nine weeks for me to get to the point I was ready to quit all over again. I also started walking around the same time I quit smoking again and that has been helpful as well.

So I have to give myself a pat on the back for having come this far. And here’s to another year of being without cigarettes in my life.

David Lee