Rick’s Blog

A funny thing happened on my way to retirement in June 2012. My mind wouldn’t shut down. Not that such a thing was desirable. I had taught for 25 years. Being a teacher and administrator ingrains in oneself a sense of public service. Maybe it is more accurate to say that a deep sense of service motivates most who go into teaching.

My mind kept whirring, gears turning upon the possibility of new mechanisms, a clockwork of evolving dimensions. I had not always been a teacher, but it did seem to be part of my DNA. In my in-between life as a general contractor and small businessman, I learned what it was like to be independent. I had the freedom to create and build. I had the freedom to hire whom I chose. I could work or not work, if I chose. The money was good, but I missed teaching. So I returned to the classroom. It invigorated me. I spent hours upon hours planning. My mood swung upon the success or failure of the most simple lessons, a look of insight, or a smile upon a struggling reader’s face as he “got it.”

Teaching evolved for me. A natural progression is from classroom to administration, and that happened to me too. But perhaps one of the best things that ever happened was going back to the classroom for a year. Times were lean. (You remember, don’t you?) I continued as Coordinator of Educational Technology while I taught Multimedia to high school students. I would find myself regularly staying up until 11:00 PM lesson planning. It doesn’t matter how many years one has taught, a new subject is like being in a first year classroom all over again. Perhaps the classroom management is familiar, but everything else is a spiral between excitement, due dates and occasional panic. The following year the budget improved, and I returned to full time administration. However, I had grown during that year. inspired by the students in my classes.

Time moved on. As I approached the possibility of retirement, I started thinking about the things I wanted to create. A website was one of them, and obviously it was going to be geared to education. Teaching is about human relationships, not just about conveying content or using specific strategies. How would I convey that in my website?

That is the subject of this blog. I hope it will evolve as I grow. Old teachers never die, they just teach a new grade level or subject. It keeps them fresh.

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