Day 82 Sheltering in Place; My Last Week

I love to keep records of ongoing events: 2,484 days of daily morning writing; 82 days of sheltering in place; 204 days of studying Italian on Duolingo. I’m not sure what it says about me other than I’m a bit obsessive.

Yesterday, day 204 of studying Italian, this sentence popped up for me to translate: La prossima settimana e la mia ultima settimana. The next week is my last week. 

And it’s true.

I’ve been counting down to retirement all school year, even after Covid-19 forced teachers and students to leave schools and begin our new adventure in distance learning.

A few weeks ago, I donned my mask and gloves to clean out my workspace, to give away books and recycle papers I had thought I couldn’t live without. Until the end came. I finally got rid of lesson plans saved from year to year. I shoved all the mementos I received from students into a box, now sitting in my garage. 

What will I do with the set of three white elephant statues given to me so many years ago that I have no memory of the boy’s name (I do remember they came from a boy) who gave them to me?

Along with the World’s Best Teacher plaque (again the giver’s name is lost) and a letter holder brought back by some child from Jordan, they represent all the students I taught in the 23 years I spent as a middle school teacher. 

And what about the envelope full of portraits of me drawn by kindergarteners accompanied by letters thanking me for helping them? As an instructional coach, I spent the year with them and their teacher, working together to nurture those young children into writers.  

So, tomorrow will be Monday, June 8, 2020. The day that begins the last week of my job. In five days (another number) I will be retired after having spent 29 years working as a teacher and coach for Jefferson Elementary School District. Almost half my life. 

In this troubling time with so many people suffering, it seems selfish to feel this is a sad time in my life. But retirement is a rite of passage that deserves contemplation and celebration. I just never thought I’d be marking the end of my career via Zoom or sitting six feet apart from friends. 

When I began this blog in September 2011, in my first post I asked the question: Teacher/Poet or Poet/Teacher? After I retire, I can still claim poet but what about teacher? What will I say instead? In five days, I’ll have to ask myself that question. At least I’ll have plenty of time to think about it.