My Mom

My Retirement Journey

By Nancy J. Remkus

“Earth Song Education”

There will be a time that we all will face retirement. We will move in that direction for a host of reasons: time, health, incentives, family needs and commitments. Some of us will dance with joy and some will leave with heavy hearts and uncertainty about what the future holds. It is easy to see why. So much of who we are and what we are has been poured into our classrooms. The structure of our day and our lives has been based around the school calendar not only since we took the job, but actually since the day we started kindergarten. How can we adjust to this new rhythm of our lives? Who are we if we are not standing in front of a shiny new class each year?

In April our district offered a 13% incentive for all those willing to retire. Of course the savings for the district is sizeable which makes sense this day and age. I faced this decision with both enthusiasm and a heavy heart. My mother was aging and it would probably be the last year that she would remember my name and know who I was when I walked in the door. She was approaching her 90^th birthday and I thought; how could I ever regret spending this time with her? Of course retiring is the right thing to do. For me my mother was the clear embodiment of love on this planet.

A week after I signed the retirement agreement my mother had a fall and died that night of a subdural hematoma. It was the most difficult day of my life. I held her as she had what appeared to be a stroke and I was beside her with my brothers and sisters and sang her favorite songs, prayed and said goodbye. Dealing with this loss was enormous, selling our homestead was heart wrenching and leaving my position of 31 years seemed to be more than one person could or should have to handle in such a short period of time.

At this point you might be wondering, why not back-up and change your mind. Tell the district you no longer want to retire. Well, in order to receive this incentive six faculty members had to be on board. I was one of six. I knew how hard the decision making process was and I couldn’t make all of my colleagues have to rethink their own decisions. So I jumped in.

Wasn’t this the time I always looked forward to: going to the bank at ten, grocery shopping before the rush, shorter lines at the post office, vacations any time of the year, time to exercise before the exhaustion of the day sets in, time to organize the house, entertain, spend time with the family. Sure it was, but it takes some planning as well as a leap of faith.

I am new on this journey but I am collecting tips along the way. If you are a year, or ten years or twenty years from retirement it doesn’t hurt to start laying the tracks now. These are some things that I feel might be important to think about-before you retire:

1.     Develop, nurture, tend-to your own interests. It could be knitting, reading, writing, painting, hiking, playing a musical instrument, learning a language, gardening, baking, travel…. Make sure there are things in your life that you love to do once you have the time to devote to them.

2.   Maintain or create friendships both in and out of school. Having a network of friends to spend time with can add texture to your life.

3.   Volunteer-either now or when you retire, put to use some of your amazing skills-at a hospital, a senior center, a church, a wild-life preserve, an animal shelter, a theater-the sky’s the limit.

4.   Tend to your financial house. If you need to, find someone to help advise you on how to put money aside to augment your retirement. I think I joined my TSA a little late in the game. It’s never too early to start planning.

5.   Keep a journal on the things you love about teaching as well as the things you find challenging. When you get to the place in time that you need to make the retirement decision reread your journal. It’s easy to think of only all the good things or all the difficult things about your job. This skewed viewpoint could lead to a decision you might regret. All jobs have their ups and their downs-keep both in focus when moving forward.

I am now in my second month of retirement. My husband, daughter and I have gone to Europe and my daughter and I took a road trip to Maine and Canada to visit my best childhood friend. I am an ordained interfaith minister so I am preparing to officiate at a wedding and I am singing at church services. Teachers Pay Teachers keeps my teacher-mind active and I am trying to get outside to walk or ride my bike each day. I hope to join a beginning yoga class, a tap dance, and look into volunteer opportunities in my area.

Retirement is neither all good nor all bad. It has a bit of a yin and yang to it. The freedom is lovely but I do miss the energy of my life as a teacher, the adorable faces and all the love that fills the classroom. I move forward with the knowledge that one-day we all will retire and for some reason this is my day and I am determined to make the most of it. There is so much out there for all of us-places to travel, languages to learn, people and animals to help. This is the next step on this journey of life and I don’t want to face it sitting down. I want to continue to grow, be the person I am meant to be, and live a joyful, meaningful life.

Mom and I

Ready, Set, Grow

Tips for setting up your classroom!

By Nancy Remkus

“Earth Song Education”

It’s a brand new school year. An exciting time to set up your classroom just the way you and your students will like it! We all know how many hours we spend each day between these walls so it is important to make it as welcoming and comfortable as possible. Some simple decorating and organization at the beginning of the school year helps the year to run smoothly. Whether your classroom is large or small it will be your home away from home for some time. Some paint, some paper, some staples or glue, can make for a great environment for the year. And of course the most important ingredient is love.

My classroom’s bulletin boards were all different colors, which had a hard time coming together. So with the blessing of administration we painted them all black which became a wonderful backdrop for all of the children’s work and classroom information! (We used regular black latex interior house paint. You can also use the blackboard paint which seems to be a bit more pricey. If boards get marked up a simple overcoat of paint at the start of the new year can bring them back to perfection. Mine have lasted several years without a new topcoat) Other colors work equally well but I really love the way color pops on a black backdrop.

Each year we select a class theme-this particular year was, “Reach for the Stars”. The children painted and glittered their own Styrofoam star to hang from the ceiling. Each closet door was divided into three sections where children’s work was displayed such as their self-portrait and a picture of their family. This section remained theirs throughout the school year and was used to display published work, art projects and anything you can imagine.

                        

I created my own earth alphabet for my classroom using pictures of things we find in our local area for the children to relate to (such as ‘H h for Horseshoe crab). There is a lot of learning that can be done when we combine and reinforce ideas. This way the students were not only learning the alphabet and their sounds but they were also becoming more familiar with the earth around them.

We begin the year with lots of activities that involve the children’s names. At the start of the year I make oak-tag name cards for each of the children. I include a picture of the child on each. We use these throughout the year. In this photo the children have sorted their names in alphabetical order. We also chart them according to the amount of syllables (chunks) and the amount of letters in each name (great ideas to couple that activity with the book “Chrysanthemum” by Kevin Henkes) Name cards can also be used for a host of graphing activities. During writing workshop children can look to the board when they want to include a classmate’s name in their writing during Writing Workshop. This has been an amazing learning tool!

Of course a personalized door decoration is very welcoming!

A magnetic class schedule on the board changes each day before the kids come into the room. It sure is incredible to watch them enter and check the schedule each day. They memorize every detail and get a real sense of reading for a purpose.

We use a pom-pom jar as our positive reward system. When an individual or the class at large is caught doing something wonderful they are asked to put a pom-pom in the jar. Working together for a single goal brings cohesiveness and teamwork to our classroom. When it is filled I let the children vote on a class reward. We have had bubble parties, stuffed animal day, game day and much more. Mr. Frog guards the pom-poms and likes to change positions day to day.

For classroom jobs each day we have a “Manager”. This changes alphabetically everyday (which is an amazing way for children to learn alphabetical order without even knowing it). The manager becomes the line-leader, milk-helper, messenger, nurse-escort and table set-up helper for the day. He/she selects names from a hat to help with door-holders and caboose. I flip the picture over after each day. The children are SO excited to be the manager.

Maybe this year you like to create a picture dictionary with your class. They are a great way to learn content areas words and reinforce initial and final consonant sounds while strengthening fine motor cutting and pasting skills. These great collections come in both English and Spanish and can be found in my “Teachers Pay Teachers” store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Nancy-Remkus

It works great to glue the pages into a blank book or onto construction paper to create individual picture dictionaries that can be very helpful for a resource during writing workshop time.

This makes a great cumulative and independent activity for literature centers.

At the start of each school year I buy a notebook and divide it with index tabs in sections of about 5 pages. I write each students name on an index tab. On the first page of each student section I write their contact information-the name, address, phone number and e-mail address of their parents. Each time I contact their parents or they contact me, when I have a meeting regarding that student with another teacher or specialist, when I notice anything significant with their learning I date the margin and write it in this book. It becomes a great resource for meetings regarding each student. It holds things that you’re sure you’ll remember but may not in the busyness of each day. When I get a phone call or make a phone call regarding a student, I grab this notebook on the way to the phone.

I also keep a file folder for each child in my desk. This is where I store their ongoing assessment folders for reading, writing and math but I also place significant pieces of their work that I may want to bring to the attention of the parents or instructional committees.

Those are just a few simple tips that have helped me begin each school year. I hope there is something in there that might help you to have a great year! Good Luck! Enjoy! And if you have a moment please visit my TPT store for some great activity units for your school year!

All the best!

Nancy

Let’s Begin!

Let’s begin this blog at my desk-here is a picture of it. I believe your space should be a reflection of who you are. Nothing too cluttered for me, but surrounded by bits and pieces of things I love, things that inspire me and things that connect me to who I am. As you can see I have angel candles on my window, feathers in a jar, shells, pinecones, stones and paperweights on my windowsill, a calendar, a star lantern and a painting of my childhood best friend and I. The things in life that you collect become part of your own personal medicine bag; the tiny shells and stones that seem to call your name while at the beach, the osprey feathers from your walk, the stone that seems to be perfectly shaped like a heart. They hold for you a bit of a healing property and inspiration.

My desk is where I spend my time thinking and creating. I try to keep the drawer organized with scissors, stamps, pens and pencils, paper clips, post it notes and thank you cards. When I turn on the lights and sit there in silence I like to think of it as my special place, grounding me and yet letting me soar. For me being able to look out the window from my desk helps to keep creative thoughts flowing. I like to feel a part of the earth and the changes of the seasons, each day holding something new and special. Deer, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, butterflies on occasion stop by.

So I begin this blog at my very special desk. I hope you’ll journey with me, and “Earth Song Education” through the seasons. We’ll talk about teaching and learning and growing. Thanks for joining me. Let’s take that first step on this journey of a thousand miles.