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2031. arkymalarky - 5/22/2019 9:17:54 PM LOL! 2032. arkymalarky - 5/22/2019 9:19:03 PM I cleaned all my stuff out last summer and now I'm thinking what did I throw away that I might need, and I'm like forget it. I'm going to go into this like Marie kondo if I go at all. 2033. Ms. No - 5/23/2019 2:46:31 AM I loved both her books --- only watched the first episode of the series, but it was great because the husband is an old friend of mine from college.
I definitely need to Konomari my classroom --- and my house! 2034. arkymalarky - 5/23/2019 3:46:26 AM cool! One thing since I retired is I've really gotten a lot in order, including konmaried my bedroom drawers. 2035. Ms. No - 5/23/2019 3:41:27 PM The drawers were my favorite thing!! I'd open them and look at my neat little rows just to get a mood boost.
I know there must be something dreadfully wrong with me. ;-> 2036. arkymalarky - 5/23/2019 4:08:38 PM No no no! It's mine too! I'm wearing t-shirts that I love that I haven't worn in years because they were at the bottom of the pile. And when I want to throw on stuff to work outside it's not mixed in with the stuff that I don't want to wear to work in. I didn't do the boxes in the drawers but I've segmented them off in ways that it's easy to know what's what. 2037. arkymalarky - 5/23/2019 4:09:55 PM I'm sure it's copyrighted, but you could make a mint writing a book called Konmari for Teaching 2038. Ms. No - 5/23/2019 6:19:30 PM Yeah, only every Kindergarten teacher on the planet has beaten me to it.
I'd have to do one called "Half-Assed Konmari for High School" where you organize one box of markers and then just shove everything else in a closet. 2039. arkymalarky - 5/23/2019 6:44:59 PM LOL. Glad I wasn't drinking coffee when I read that 2040. Ms. No - 6/11/2019 4:30:00 PM Turned out to be only 100 degrees rather than 104 for our graduation ceremony last night. Fortunately we have very small classes, so the entire production only took 32 minutes. It was the putting away of the chairs afterward that got really miserable.
I wasn't as weepy this year as last, but I'm definitely going to miss this class. They were probably the biggest-hearted class I've ever had. Just really sweet, lovely kids.
Next year I've got some kids coming in that I've been waiting four years for! Others of them I don't know hardly at all. It's been a while since I've had a class of kids that I've never taught before. I'll actually have to explain to them how my class works. :-)
For now, I'm just working on cleaning my room and trying to do a little prep for next year while everyone else takes finals. I'm hoping to get my library sorted out a little bit and throw out a bunch of old papers and materials.
I keep thinking that one of these summers I'm going to go through all my binders and pull out just the stuff I want to use and toss the rest.
That will NOT be this summer. 2041. arkymalarky - 6/12/2019 3:16:05 AM Retire then go back is the best way I've found to winnow down your stuff. I didn't get to go to graduation this time even though I promised the kids I would. I couldn't make it because Stan had to do something else. I love graduations. That and the first day of school.
Turns out I will be going back apparently. Virtually full-time. I'm happy about it, it's going to be one year and no more, and I'm worrying about my parents. I won't be teaching AP or pre-ap just straight English classes and one creative writing class and I told my principal if I do it it's going to have to be a peer-run class. It's totally elective guided but not graded class. If I can't do that then they'll just have to find somebody else but they have really worked on me to come back. in the end I was straight up about everything including this is a one and done deal. Also said if I have to miss I have to miss just dock my pay. My parents have to come first. 2042. Ms. No - 6/12/2019 6:20:21 PM That makes perfect sense --- and of course your folks come first. I worry because mine are so far away. Last year was scary as shit. A dear friend of mine just found out her mother is developing dementia. We're all too young for this.
So excited about your Creative Writing class! I've been co-advising our creative writing club for 9 years now. We just published our 8th book of collected works.
I'd love to chat with you about your class. I just finished writing some professional development for teachers who want to use the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method. We've been using this method since the beginning and it's been super-successful. 2043. arkymalarky - 6/14/2019 2:28:01 PM I would love that. Still don't know if I'm going to end up doing it. If I do it will be a creative writing Workshop, Peer-run and ungraded. What they're wanting me to do is teach seven classes, 8th 9th 10th grade English and this writing class. That's four preps. I made it clear I will not do that much. I'm stretching it to say what I'll do with the writing class at all. So they need to hire someone else if they can't make an adjustment on that. I'm not going to do that kind of schedule anymore. And I wasn't looking for a job, this came up when I was up there visiting. I would love to go back for a year, I could not do any more than that, and I will not do that kind of load with my parents like they are. It's a bad enough schedule if I lived right there and didn't have any other responsibilities. 2044. arkymalarky - 6/18/2019 3:12:21 PM Well, I'm not doing it after all. I'm kind of relieved although a little bit sad about the money. When you go back after retirement you draw your retirement plus your salary. I simply was not going to do that schedule and I told them they should go with a local person and that's what they ended up doing. She may be less experienced, but she's not going anywhere. I made an offer early in this far too lengthy process to help mentor her if they needed me and I'm not making that again. If they remember they may ask if they need to, but I'd just as soon they forget I offered. 2045. arkymalarky - 6/18/2019 3:26:57 PM LOL. Right after I posted that the principal texted me and said they might need me to help as a mentor. I said I'd be glad to if they needed me. I would enjoy it, but I'd like to get my mindset to either be working or not working. I doubt they'll call, but this would be a nice no pressure part-time situation. 2046. arkymalarky - 6/29/2019 7:23:24 AM Got my lifetime teaching license today. Don't know if I'll ever use it but I love having it. If I ever decide I want to work part-time that will make it easy. After thinking I was going back to work, I realize I don't ever intend to go back full time. I wouldn't while my parents are living, and once they're gone I won't want to take that on. 2047. arkymalarky - 9/24/2019 7:20:03 PM Well looking at my last post, you just think things are going to rock on like they always do but they don't. Dad's bladder cancer came back and he got through surgery fine and we'll see the prognosis tomorrow, but man am I glad I didn't take even a part-time job this year. I have to take Dad for treatment once a week for six weeks in Hot Springs and probably more stuff before and after that. We're babysitting grandson in a week or two and having company after that, then dad's treatment start. No way I could have worked 2048. arkymalarky - 9/24/2019 7:24:45 PM Still miss it though, still dream about it, still sometimes cry about it. Stan and I were talking today about the fun stuff we used to tell kids. They'd always ask for a free day and stan would tell them it is going to be a free day it won't cost you a dime. And I used to tell mine if they would work extra hard for a couple of days I would give them two free days in a row. It would take them a minute to figure out that that was Saturday and Sunday. They be all excited and then disappointed. Good times. 2049. Ms. No - 9/26/2019 5:21:10 PM Yeah, I think everyone has this idea of retirement as being nothing to do all day except what you want to do and it never works out that way.
I'm starting to seriously think about my exit plans. Set to meet with a friend in a couple of weeks about what further schooling/certification I need to pursue to make a transition to post-secondary education. 2050. arkymalarky - 9/27/2019 3:12:05 PM Yeah it's different when you get out because you feel like you have to instead of wanting to and looking forward to it or making a career change. Spook and stan don't get it because they were both ready to get out of teaching. I wasn't. My job was too much with the schedule and the commute , and my life was getting to be too much and I just couldn't do both anymore. And that's just how it is, thankfully I was ready for it financially, but I have to be there for my parents right now. And for my daughter and grandson because we want to spend time with him instead of working all the time.
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