Sometimes, I reflect on my disjointed career in teaching as a bit like Mary Poppins. I popped into Cincinnati Public for several years. I popped into Rockford College for one year before popping into schools in Kentucky for almost six years. In between, I pop in random workshops in my community. And then, poof! I'm gone. Sans umbrella. Perhaps I should purchase one for this new pop in.
I never intended to be a Mary Poppins teacher. I actually thought I'd retire from my career in teaching old-school. You know... working in one school for a hundred million years where not only do your past students come back to visit, but you also have the privelege of teaching their children. I'd retire with a big celebration and then maybe come back to sub from time to time; old, withered, telling the kids, "Back in my day, children" blah blah blah.
That's how it was with teachers when I was growing up. But, it was also how families lived as well. You'd get married, buy a house, have kids and either die in that house or retire to Florida. Our generation doesn't have that luxury. We move from state to state for careers. We buy and sell homes. We just don't stay in one place as the norm. In fact, the few friends I can think of who live in the same home they watched their babies take their first steps are the exception to this new norm.
So, with that in mind... perhaps its not so unusual to be a Mary Poppins in the teaching world.
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