Back to School!

I hear it, sometimes everyday, sometimes every other day. But I hear it, ringing in my ears and getting my little mind to thinking. What is it? It's a little reminder that pretty soon it will be time for me to go . . . Back to School. It's similar to the biological clock that women hear. Mother Nature's gentle reminder that it's time to start planning for a family. Only with me, it's Father Finance and it's a silver whistle blowing in my ear instead of a clock tick.

When I finished college with a Master's degree in English, the natural thing for me to do it seemed was teach. And so I did. And I enjoyed it until Mother Nature did call and i chose my kids over other peoples. But I guess I always figured I would go back one day, step foot in the classroom and pick up with Romeo, Juliet, Faulkner, and all my other favorites. I look back on my few years in the classroom with fond memories, squeamish moments, great stories, and lots of "wonder whatever happened to that kid?" I covered lots of bases, the 12th grade summer schoolers who were either super smart and graduating early or had failed English before and needed it (desperately) to graduate. I read a great paper once on the Bubonic Plaque by one of those scholars. I then taught the ninth grade babies who were the low men on the totem pole and weren't afraid to befriend the teacher, hopeful to have as many friends in their corner as possible that first year. I was privy to all the hot gossip in the freshmen world. I also "experienced" junior high and spent a year with 7th graders that wasn't nearly as long as I thought it'd be going in.

That mix of ages, races, genders, etc. has given me plenty to talk about over the years. I remember the nose bleed to end all nose bleeds. If I had been a squeamish teacher they would have found me out cold,face down on the dirty tile in the junior high boys' bathroom. Luckily, my stomach was and is strong and I remained composed as i called for the janitor and the attendance lady. I remember the sweet little girl who couldn't ever remember to do her homework but after I got married never once called me Miss Carter again. Several years later as I ran on the treadmill, I watched that same girl on the Maury Povich show, pleading with a psychic to tell her who killed her mother. To this day I hope for the best for that little girl. Perhaps my favorites, though, were the little boys who, despite the number of detentions, sentence writing, and extra assignments, always came in each day with the same smile for me. They may have hated me the day before, but they were the perfect examples of forgiveness. My favorite 9th grader was a Chris Rock look alike and act-alike who couldn't keep himself out of trouble. Detention after detention eventually led to suspension, but he came back and never once acted like he blamed me for it, though I had been the issuer of many of those detentions. I left town after that year, but I like to believe that he, and all my other boys, chose all the right roads and are men I'd be proud of today.

But, and this is a BIG BUT, that was 10 years ago!!! Surely things have changed in 10 years. Teenagers didn't have cell phones back then. Now it seems like every little girl has an I phone and a Louis Vuitton bag by the time she's 13. My students turned in hand written essays, and I didn't have a computer at my desk. Did we even have the internet???? Luckily for me, the whistle-blower set up for me a long term sub job at his school last fall. I'd get to dip my toes in the water after so many years as a stay-at-home mom. Before i dove back in, i'd get a chance to see if teaching was still all it was cracked up to be back then. i won't lie either. During those at-home years, I wondered what life "outside the classroom" would be like. I wondered how I'd handle a sales meeting, a product pitch, and a day spent entirely with adults.

Well, let's just say it didn't take me long to realize that high heels and hose are overrated. Lunch in the cafeteria is just as satisfying as one at Applebee's, and Prom and pep rallies are still FUN! I won't be dropping Tate off at daycare anytime soon, but when the whistle blower blows again, i'll be ready. I'm sure i'll write plenty of detentions for texting in class and the students will probably have to show me how to do a power point, but as long as the halls are filled with the jokesters, the athletes, the kids who read Steinbeck but won't admit it, the kids who stand out for looking a little different, but deep down are just the same, i'll be ready to go back to school. Now, what will I wear????