Professor Sharon

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88 days and adventure

March 5th, 2014 · 100 Days Project, College students, family, Important People, Musings, My Goals, retirement, time, Volunteer, Work

I work with the nicest of folks.  On my way out of the building today, I saw one of the Psychology faculty and commented on how little I’d managed to see her this semester, even though she and I are only about six offices apart.   It turns out she has quite a heavy teaching load – as everyone does in community college if you didn’t know that! – and has a new course with community involvement and training aspects to it that keep her quite busy.

Somewhere in there she managed to turn the conversation to me and how exciting it must be to think about and be about to be retired.  She said that I’m a kind, firm, and comforting presence at the school and she would miss me.

I shall miss her, and several other of my colleagues a great deal as well.  My hubby recently said to me that I am a people person and that I shall have to find ways to have people in my life every day – besides him and the nearby daughter and granddaughter of course!

I do have several ideas of what I want to spend my time with – I do want to count to others as well in this next third of my life.  I think I’m about to have an adventure!

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89 days and pre-service teachers

March 5th, 2014 · 100 Days Project, Children, College students, Education, Musings, Teaching & Learning, Work

Every spring semester I teach the student teaching class.  This involves a two and a half hour weekly class seminar, plus regular visits to the field where student teachers are working 12 – 15 hours a week in a early care and education setting.

I generally keep the placements nearby to the college to keep the transportation time and costs down.  But, on occasion a student will ask for some setting a bit further away, and so it is this semester.  About 24 miles away, there’s a branch of a local, privately owned childcare business, and one student requested it.  I thought it would be a good fit, and so approved it.  Due to the crazy snow days schedule this late winter, I finally got there for my first observation of her work with the toddlers this week!

She’s doing fine – and long story, short – this is a good thing.  The funny thing was that unbeknownst to me, her supervising teacher is an alum of my classes, as is the site director (which I did know).  And, as I was leaving there was another young woman coming in to be a sub for the day who is currently in my classes!  She said to me, “I told you that you should come visit this place!”

I guess in my years of pre-service training I’ve made some inroads into putting teachers and caregivers out there who are taking care of my community’s young!  I hope it has worked out well for those children they are care for – I’ve certainly worked really hard to see that the students in my classes are worthy of the work of caring for our youngest citizens.

It was a good visit.

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90 days and laughter

March 4th, 2014 · 100 Days Project, College students, Education, Musings, retirement, Work

Today a colleague stopped by to ask how I was doing, and to find out how I was feeling about my approaching retirement.

I said in reply, “There’s a lot of lasts.”

He answered, “I’m so glad there are a lot of laughs!”

Yep, you know, you’re right, there’s a lot of laughs too!

Best mis-hearing of my words ever!

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91 days and joy

March 3rd, 2014 · 100 Days Project, Children, family, Musings, photo of the week, retirement, Work

The joy of family is there whether one is working or retired!

Watch out for the flat spots!

Watch out for the flat spots!

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92 days and a question

March 1st, 2014 · 100 Days Project, Children, Grandparents, Musings, My Goals, retirement, time, Work

At the Farmer’s Market this morning, someone asked me, after beginning with the comment that I didn’t have to answer if it was too personal, how was I feeling about this transition to my self-identity in this concept of retiring?  What a good question!

I’m not sure.  I know that I’ve asked several retirees about their transition, and the going advice was not to commit to too much for at least six months, if not a year.  I’ve tried hard to do that.  I know that I am not drawn to serve on a lot of Boards, and do thinking work.  I am wanting to work with young children, something I’ve actually always said I would do when I got to retire.  I have made one commitment to a local preschool public school to volunteer a couple of hours a week.

I don’t know altogether how to think about who I am in retirement.  Many of my roles will stay the same, with more time assigned to them without a doubt: wife, mother, and grandmother, and cook, and hobby doer.

Good question.  Who am I in retirement?

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