In the last five years, I have
- Had two kids (my wife actually gets that credit)
- Changed preps four times
- Learned about 900 student names
- Graded thousands of essays, projects, and homework assignments
- Presented at a dozen or so workshops/conferences
- Wrote and compiled two 1500 page + curriculum guides for Modern World History and Western Civilization
- Bought a house that needed a lot of work
- Worked a lot on my house
- Completed my MA in Educational Technology
Last night I completed my final two classes for my masters. The five years is a bit deceiving. For the first four semesters, I only took one class and then I took five semesters off over the five years (to prepare for children, write the books, start a new prep, and breathe occasionally).
As I sat down with the members of my final class last night for pizza and beer, I saw such a diverse group of individuals with amazingly different backgrounds and some great futures. I went through several “sets” of groups by being in a two-year program for five years. I think this set was the strongest and have development a handful of strong friendships that will no doubt have some staying power.
Now the question becomes, what next? At the very least, I get a raise. But is this the thing that will lead me out of the classroom? I don’t know at this point, it would certainly have to be the perfect job (and pay a lot more). For the meantime, I actually get to focus on teaching and on the projects I want to do. Good times.
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