Throughout my career, I have seen teachers celebrate during their 30th year of teaching, their final year of work. They laughed during faculty meetings when they learned of new programs, new procedures, and new paperwork for the following year because they knew they would not have to do it.
They celebrated a year of lasts: last first day of school, last Open House, last report card, last research paper, last. . . last . . .last.
With ten years of teaching experience, I laughed and celebrated with these teachers. With twenty years of experience, I celebrated their retirement, but I was also secretly envious.
With 32 years of teaching experience today, I am just stumped and often avoid the issue of retirement.
I started this school year with big plans to retire from high school teaching and find a job teaching college. So far, I have had little luck finding a new job, and I’m starting to wonder.
Do I retire anyway?
Do I retire and then teach half day?
How much longer can I continue to make such a long daily commute (2 1/2 hours)?
If I retire, will I get bored?
If I love my students and my job and am effective, should I retire?
Ten years ago retirement seemed like such an achievement, a reward for decades of service.
Today, the decision just seems too difficult to make. I welcome all advice.
2 comments on this topic
26. December - 9:29 am
I just stopped by your blog and thought I would say hello. I like your site design. Looking forward to reading more down the road.
26. December - 9:50 pm
Thanks for visiting, Randy!
27. December - 8:47 am
While I don’t have much experience with retirement, I can say that you are one of the best teachers I have ever had. So as far as how good of a job you do, I don’t know if they could find such a great teacher to replace you. I would feel sorry for the kids who came to AP Lang at KMHS after you retired. You’ve helped me improve my writing so much.
But you do sacrifice a lot(in my mind) to do what you do. 2 1/2 hours is a lot of driving to do each day. Especially with gas so expensive. You’ve given more than the average teacher. You deserve to retire/teach college/whatever you want to do. I’m sure if you went to teach college, your students would love you as much as our class has.
27. December - 12:40 pm
Thanks, Brian! You made my day!
27. December - 9:34 pm
I have seen a lot of people retire from varying fields as well as many teachers. Across the board the only ones who are really happy are still working. Many teachers ended up back in a classroom, school, or mentoring program. Others got very involved in their church. Some got jobs in bakeries. A few ended up at local colleges. Many began spending most of the time they worked with grandchildren. Others took small jobs and traveled to fill other time. If you retire, your life will come September be empty. Don’t retire from teaching until you have something to fill the time. College teaching jobs are (right now) pretty hard to get, so maybe teaching for another year or two to wait for the right job is the best course of action. Retiring without something to fill the time is essentially death. If you love teaching, it won’t be so bad, and if in a few years you become sick of teaching, you will know it is time to go or if you find another job with a college, it will be a sign that it really is time.
27. December - 10:33 pm
Thanks for the advice, Bill. Your observations touch on so many feelings I am having right now. The only thing I am positive about is that I am not going to retire unless I have something else lined up to fill my time. I’m leaning towards teaching half day next year. I appreciate your suggestions!