Back to School

Post date: Sep 23, 2018 2:28:34 AM

I’ve been retired from teaching at Hawkeye Community College for two years, but this is my first semester when I don’t have my younger grandson, Mason, to babysit during the week, and my volunteer work with the Cedar Falls Authors Festival has ended. I am still keeping busy with the League of Women Voters, but realized the other day that this fall is very different. Without Mason here, the house is a little quieter. It is the first semester that I am not mentoring a student from UNI’s Education department: I had four wonderful students over the past two years, and it is fun to watch several of them on Facebook as they enter the classroom.

Mason is a big boy now, and enjoying Kindergarten. He likes to write his name and a few words, draw, and help his big brother create new board games. I can’t wait until he comes in the door and says, “I can read, Grandma!” Big brother Corbin is in the second grade and a wonderful reader; he is a bright little boy and getting taller and taller.

We had a lot of fun with them this summer, and look forward to a few days this fall and winter when school will be out and we’re needed again. They love watching cartoons and movies, especially those about Phineas and Ferb, Paw Patrol, Curious George, and others. However, they are just as happy watching cartoons on PBS kids on our Kindle Fires. We try to get them out in the yard to blow bubbles, throw around a ball, or admire our neighbor’s big garden. We go to the park, the library, and the store.

Now that I am a grandmother, I occasionally help out with getting the boys to school. As with everything else, having a routine, being organized, and setting out clothes the night before makes all of the difference!

Some things stay the same

I’ve always liked shopping for school supplies. I have way too many pencils and pens, so now I am shopping for the grandsons.

A few weeks into September, I love all of the back to school shopping clearance sales—construction paper, pencils, and three ring notebooks for a dollar? Yes, thank you.

I love the sense of a fresh start. I’ve been decluttering in the garage, closets, and my office. The return to school always brought with it a sense of getting organized, of a new semester, a new routine, and a new paper planner.

Some things are very different

I love not having to rush out the door to an 8:00 am class!

I don’t miss all of the meetings that I used to attend, all of the grading, and the prep. However, I do miss my colleagues, the classroom, and interacting with students.

I’m as likely to focus more on my Google calendar than a paper one: I can check it from my phone, iPad, PC, laptop or Kindle Fire.

It took more than a year to disconnect my brain from the academic calendar of midterms, finals, spring break, and graduation. The first semester I would look at the calendar and think, “My Composition 2 class would be working on the first essay….My Literature class would be finishing up Fiction…my Technology in the Classroom students would be searching for their curriculum standards and working on lesson plans.”

So, what now?

I’ve always loved reading, and retirement has made it possible to read more. While I enjoy our new condo, there is limited space for more books, so I have shifted to reading eBooks on my Kindle and IPad. I also have more time to write and reflect, work on projects, and volunteer. I love updating my websites and blog, posting to Facebook about new events, and catching up on my friends and family online.

However, anyone walking into my home office immediately recognizes that I have quite a few projects to work on, and each one is represented by several boxes, tubs, or totes. So, just as some of my teacher friends have returned to the classroom, it’s time for me to get back to work!

What does “back to school” mean for you?

Updated September 22nd, 2018

Also posted on my Blogging Basic blog, https://bloggingbasicswithcherie.blogspot.com/2018/09/back-to-school.html?view=magazine