This is the End...My Only Friend...The End

My list of lasts has begun. As a teacher you can always come up with some fairly frivolous "lasts" of the year: last workshop day in August, last standardized test, last formal observation by the principal--you get the picture.

It is when the REAL lasts start rolling by that we realize "Holy crap, another year and I still haven't figured out how to get everything done that I planned." I hope my friends and colleagues who are retiring aren't plagued by this type of thought. I can't imagine my golden years being spent worrying that we didn't get around to doing the water lab back in 2003. Knowing my memory, that isn't anything for me to worry about.

Today marks my last Friday because next Friday I will be in a throng 1,500 strong, heading to Belfast on two skinny wheels on the Trek Across Maine. Every day from here on in will be a last of some sort.

I heard word of a long-time special ed. teacher in a neighboring district who recently had his last PET of a long career. I believe he's been teaching since at least the mid-1970's, if not the early '70's. He is still a young guy, in my eyes, still enjoys the kids he works with, and is only really happy to be leaving because of the proliferation of paperwork enjoyed by special ed teachers. When (or if) I ever retire, I hope it is on terms similar to his. If I don't still enjoy working with kids, I should be put out to pasture long before my statutory retirement age. It should be that way for all educators, and anyone else whose attitude and demeanor affects the future of others. This is why the Maine Legislature screwed up so royally under John McKernan when they raided the retirement fund and forced teachers to work longer before they could retire without penalty. They effectively forced ineffective teachers to stay in linger, teaching ineffectively for even longer than they would have and making an artificial barrier younger, eager teachers. Hand in hand with that comes the step increases for older, more experienced teachers, which cause districts to pay even more money for (presumably) less enthusiastic and effective teachers.

It would be foolish to suggest that all veteran teachers are ineffective or less enthusiastic: indeed, I've seen plenty who are good teachers even beyond the traditional retirement age, and I've seen plenty of teachers who don't improve much throughout their entire careers. But for the most part, it does seem fairly common for the passion to fade with passing years.

So with each passing "last" of the school year, I am reminded of summer. Summer leads into fall, where the lasts will all begin again and cycle throughout the year. It's hard to know what my reaction will be when all my "lasts" are really final. I hope by then that I will still love working with kids, and that I leave this profession on my own terms. That will be a good day.