Professor Sharon

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24, 23, 22, 21, 20 — and yes, how did another five days go by?

May 12th, 2014 · 100 Days Project, College students, Education, Musings, retirement, Teaching & Learning, Work

These posts of several days are just reminders of how busy my life as a college professor really is!  Not to mention the part of life that involves laundry, the first lawn mow of the spring, a delightful Mother’s Day spent with daughter and granddaughter and paying the bills!

This morning I enjoyed my once a semester breakfast date with the woman who founded the Early Education Department at Greenfield Community College.  I have never said that I replaced her — I took the job she held for many years before retiring and then passing the baton onto me.  I wonder if the new kid on the block even knows who I am — but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is that I had the honor of honoring this woman’s important work and carrying on her legacy.  Like life itself, I do not know what those after me will do, but I know that upon my retirement I can say I worked really hard to carry forward in new and interesting and important ways the work she started.  When a gathering of the profession in our town results in 90% of those in attendance having been through our program, either having had her or me as a professor, that is such a good, good thing for the children in our community.

I have made a difference in someone’s life — that is a good way to spend a busy five days – five years — wait, 14 years since my work at this college began – this is a good thing.

 

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28, 27, 26, 25 and bittersweet moments indeed…

May 7th, 2014 · 100 Days Project, College students, Education, Fundraiser, Musings, retirement, Work

I truly have been thinking about this blog, and not short of material.  But the last few days have had more bitter than sweet and I simply got hung up on that.  I don’t want to write about those moments or focus on them anymore.  Those are the things that created the stress in this job; so much of it is about my disbelief in the fact that some of my colleagues choose not to be, don’t know how to be, kind and generous.  They do believe they are being that – I think – but, in the end, they aren’t, and I’ve not known how to let go of those moments so easily.  And, so I just didn’t know what to write about the bitter –  that was getting the better of me.

But, again, my dear hubby, reminded me to not focus on that, but to focus on the sweet: and so today I return to that and will do my best to write about that in my last 25 days in this job.   Day 22 was the Scholarships Awards ceremony where the Greenfield Community College Foundation gives out thousands of dollars in scholarships.  I had the pleasure of meeting and presenting four students with their scholarships — tears, amazing stories of life challanges, and delightful proud students and families.   I’m proud of my work on that Board and in doing this for the school.  That is the sweet.

I plan on having 24 more days of sweetness.

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30, 29 and the count-down

May 3rd, 2014 · 100 Days Project, College students, Musings, retirement, Teaching & Learning

It’s hard to believe I’m under 30 days until I retire from this position!  As someone asked yesterday, “Yes, you have 30 days, but how many “real” days?”, meaning I have only three more class days, and the rest of the time is a few last meetings, a few celebrations and cleaning up my desk.

I am so amazed that it is so near.  I am sad at the prospect of not working directly with some amazing students, and happy to know that my brain will be filled with other challenges!

Goodness, here it comes….

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31 and last times

May 1st, 2014 · 100 Days Project, College students, Education, Musings, retirement, Teaching & Learning, time

Just as I try not to say, “the trip of a lifetime,” because there’s always another opportunity to go on another trip and experience new things, I’ve been hesitant to say “the last time,” when it comes to my retirement.

Today marked the last time – at least the “official” last time that a group of student teachers have come to enjoy lunch with me at my home at the end of the semester.  It felt like the last time in some ways — I won’t be working full time at this particular college — so I guess we could mince words and call it last!

But, call it last, or refuse to call it last, today’s lunch was delightful!  Six students, about to enter the world of professional early care and education, enjoying lunch together (free food is always good to a student!), chatting about their experiences, and beginning to consider their own semester a “once in a lifetime”!  They may student teach again depending upon their college journeys; but they really won’t ever have the freshness of this year again.

Our feelings likely weren’t so different today in thinking and feeling about firsts, and lasts, and experiences of a lifetime.

I shall miss the mentoring of student teachers very very much.

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33 and Abigail Adams Eliot

April 30th, 2014 · 100 Days Project, Education, Important People, Musings, retirement, Teaching & Learning

Tonight brought the evening honoring our local child care providers: we call it the Abigail Adams Eliot Award for local Educator and Administrator.  It was a lovely evening with a STEM focus, with tables of local organizations, dinner and a presentation about STEM for early care providers.

At one point the moderator asked all those who had taken a class at Greenfield Community College to stand, and nearly 90% of the 80 or so people in the room stood!  Wonderful!

I felt very proud to have been part of providing well educated, caring providers for our local children.

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