Teaching

Nancy - posted on 02/16/2009

Hi Coletha!  It's really nice to meet you!  How is your first year of teaching going?  I've been a mentor for a lot of first year teachers.  The first year can be so exciting but yet overwhelming at the same time!  What disability area in special ed. are you teaching and at what grade level?  I do miss teaching, but I have rheumatoid arthritis and also chronic pain from a motorcycle accident years ago, so it's easier on my body when I'm not teaching full time.  It helps that I've been subbing quite a bit.  Last week I subbed for three days.  I've got a job already scheduled for this coming Wednesday.  Kids give me a lot of joy, so subbing is a good alternative with my health issues.  We'll have to see if we think it will work with only my husband's salary and my subbing.  I read your profile and about your daughter.  I have a 19 year old son who we adopted when he was 3 days old.  He is the joy of our lives.  Right now he struggles with his weight, also.  He was diagnosed with cancer when he was 15 years old.  The chemotherapy resulted in him gaining 80 pounds in one year.  He has lost some of it, but has kept most of the weight on.  He is 6 feet tall and weighs about 240 pounds right now.  It really hurts his self esteem.  Add to that different adoption issues he has regarding his birth family makes for some tough times for him.  He graduated last spring from high school, which we didn't realize he was going to graduate until a week before graduation.  He was behind in credits and attended an alternative high school where he could gain credits  quickly.  The rigor behind the classes wasn't as strong.  Anyway, the last half of the year he transferred back to a normal high school.  We were shocked when the school counselor said he had enough credits to graduate!  We had a real celebration!  Now he's trying to decide what to do with his life!  He is an avid scuba diver and has been interested in a commercial diving school in Florida.  However, he's out of shape from having been so sick with cancer, and then also from having major knee repair surgery in 11th grade.  I don't know if he could handle the rigors of the school right now.  He's just working part time as a security job because he can't find a full time job right now.  It seems like with the economy so bad, older people have come in and taken jobs that younger kids used to have.  We live in Minnesota.  Has your daughter decided what she is interested in?  I hope to hear from you again soon.  Sincerely, Nancy

Coletha - posted on 02/16/2009

Hi Nancy, nice to meet you. I am 40 years old and this is my first year teaching. I am also a special education teacher. I live in California. I love teaching. I was a business professional for many years and got really burned out. My only child, who is still at home, is now 22 years old. I missed being a band booster mom, a field trip mom, a class helper. I decided to do it full-time and I love it. Hope your husbands business becomes very successful. Will you miss teaching...I mean you have done it for so long?