Why I "retired" from teaching...

I've recently made the decision to no longer teach. I've been asked on numerous occasions why I would leave education. I love teaching, I really do. More importantly, I love watching teenagers grow into decent human being who learn how to critically think and make good choices. I love being able to help them in such a transitional time in their life, and I love watching them learn more and more about themselves.

I always assumed I would die in my chair. Well, technically in my classroom since I never got to sit at my desk; that was reserved for my students. I assumed I would be preparing for the ACT, graduation, and college. I assumed I would be hoarding chocolate, tissues, and Dr. Pepper for when my students needed a therapy session.

However, at the end of this school year, I found out my contract wasn't being renewed. Blame budget cuts, politics, whatever. The reason doesn't matter. What matters is I knew that with that I would be moving back to Oklahoma.

I wouldn't be teaching at the small school in an office building with the farm down the street. I wouldn't be teaching where my plan period involved students teaching me how to shear a sheep or how much to feed a steer. I wouldn't be teaching where I was some of my students' closest friend. I wouldn't be teaching where walking in to my classroom felt more like home than my apartment.

So, I moved back to Oklahoma. The state where education is, honestly, a very big joke. The district I had taught at before moving to Utah had already been hit with yet another budget cut. The classes are even bigger than before with the funds even smaller. Schools are combining and extra-curricular activities are being cut.

As much as I love a challenge, I knew I needed to leave on a high note. That's what this past year has been for me. I learned more about myself and my teaching style. I learned how to be more inclusive with my students. I learned how to truly make an assignment fit the individual student. I learned how to give everything I had to my students.

There, also, comes the obvious observation in education in Oklahoma, the pay. The pay is terrible, it truly is. The biggest problem with the pay isn't necessarily the amount. Teachers are crafty and resilient by nature. If they weren't, there wouldn't be any. The biggest problem with the pay is how much of it teachers put back into their students and classroom. If students don't have the means for school supplies, it's the teachers who by it for the kids. If there isn't enough seating in a classroom, it's the teachers who figure out a way to turn the thrift store finds into desks. If students haven't eaten, it's the teachers who bring extra lunches or keep a drawer full of snacks. 

So, while I can make the same amount at another job, I'm not paying to raise another person's child. That right there is a huge difference. Another is the hours. The hours are less, only forty hours a week, not  sixty plus. And, I'm not having to jump through politics made by people who aren't in the field to keep the interest of forty-five teenagers.

Why am I "retiring"? Because I want to be able to do so much more for the kids I taught. I want to be able to help them. I want to be able to give them individualized attention. I want to be able to afford that extra pack of pencils and that drawer of snacks. 

So, even though, I'm not teaching, that doesn't mean I'm done with them. I've alway had the theory, "if they love you, they never leave you." This is true for my past students. They know how to get ahold of me. They know I will still help them with the ACT, those therapy sessions, and everything in between...