The school year is about to begin at the school I used to teach at. I LOVE teaching. I love working with children, and I love the difference I make in their lives. It gives my life value. Hubby and I decided that I should quit my job before we started the IVF process. Sure I could work, but teaching takes effort...and it was a level of effort that I would not be able to put forth while going through IVF. I had enough sick days built up that I could have made it work...but it really wouldn't have been fair to my students. They deserved better than what I was going to be able to give.
So I quit my job, that I loved, teaching a subject that I love. It wasn't a horrible sacrifice, because we were planning on me quitting when we had children anyway, this was just a bit early. And I had a great option, to substitute teach. I could still teach, and work with kids, but it could be when I felt up to it, and when it didn't interfere with IVF. So I did that for a year. I ended up working a lot less than I expected to. I ended up doing two IVFs and an FET...and throw in there a few awesome trips.
I signed up to Sub again this year, and I am very happy that I did. At this time of year, I really miss teaching. Many friends are posting on Facebook about setting up their classrooms and meeting their students, and as much of a hassle it was to get things ready for the start of the new year, I still always looked forward to it. I was still excited every year at the start of a new school year. I miss that!
Today I ran into one of my all time favorite students...yes teachers do actually have favorites. I taught this student the last year I taught full time. She is a great kid. I know her mother as well, because she was a para for a student that was in my class when I taught special ed. So I stopped and talked to them for about fifteen minutes. It was so nice catching up with them. It made me think back on not only this student, but all of the awesome students that I had. I was very blessed to have such an amazing group of kids, especially my last year teaching.
One thing that I remembered was a comment that this student made towards the end of the school year, and a few comments that her mother had made to me, while I was teaching her daughter. The student made the comment that she couldn't believe that she had an A in my class. She said that she was horrible at the Science, and had never gotten an A in it before. I told her that she earned it...she worked really hard for that A. She also said that she now loved Science, and no other teacher had taught it like I did, and now she found it interesting and fun! That was always one of the highlights of teaching...was when the kids or parents would say things like this. Her mother also made several comments that made me love teaching. I would comment to this mother, every time I had the opportunity, about how awesome her daughter is. The mother's response made me want to tell parents more often about how wonderful their kids are. She said that she didn't often hear good things about her kids, and thanked me. She loved to hear the good things about her kids, she thought they were great, but it was always nice to hear it from others. I also got to thinking when she made this comment that teachers don't say the good things often enough.
One reason that this student made it to my favorite list...besides being such an amazing kid, was that she was adopted. I always had a heart for the students who were adopted. It has to be hard at times. I say this because I was a science teacher...and I had to teach genetics. How hard it must be to sit in a class, where everyone else is talking about where they got what trait from, and you have no idea where your blue eyes or dimples came from. I was always very aware of this, and started the unit with a discussion about how some students may not be able to know who they inherited what from, and it didn't just apply to my students who were adopted, but also kids being raised by step parents or grandparents, or even single parents. This helped many students to feel more comfortable talking about their genetics. I always did worry about those students though. It is hard enough to be a teenager, and not know where you came from...I didn't want to add to that. My student's mother dealt with it very well, and helped my student to feel comfortable with who she is, and shared with her what she knew about her genetic parents. I felt that the way that I dealt with it in the classroom, prompted good, and healthy discussions at home, for this family. I did often worry though about possible irate phone calls from parents, but they never came from the genetics unit.
All of this got me thinking about how open and understanding, I hope to be with my own child. Chances are we will know nothing about his/her genetic family. I am okay with that, at this point, but I worry what that will be like for my child. Sure I would love to know who gave my child life, and I would love for my child to have a relationship with them at some point, but with the adoption program we are in, that will most likely not be possible. I do hope that if my child has a difficult this with this, I am able to help them through it.
