I just finished dumping the rest of my lesson plans.  I guess I held on to the calculus ones for so long because I spent so much time working on them and it was truly a labor of love.  Anyway, I came across this cartoon,  I always tried to lighten the load by adding a little humor to everything I did.

I hope my students are all doing well and have nice memories of our classes.  I miss them all but don’t miss all the other BS that went along with the job.  Retirement is great.

One of the benefits of retirement is a May vacation on a 15 cabin cruise to Greece in May, way before most tourists arrive.

I worked with some amazing people over the years and unfortunately, in a school as big as Packemin I got to know a small group of them.  I can't blame the size entirely.  I was never totally happy there and preferred being by myself quite a bit of the time.

Now comes retirement.  A small group started going out for monthly lunches. The group of 5 has extended to a group of over 20, or at least that is how many are on the mailing list.  We all don't make every lunch and many have dropped out and are members in name only but the core group keeps coming back every month with a few more additions every couple of months.

The core group, many who barely knew each other before, have connected in a strong way.  We never talk about Packemin.  It is a thing in the distant past for all of us.  I can't even tell you what we talk about but the two hours or so goes quickly and it is an event we all look forward to every month.  We come away with a warm, tingly feeling inside, brought together by an environment that was not always so nice. As we walked out, many made plans to meet sooner than next luncheon for more individual time together.

I would like to give a special shout out here to Ben's Bay Terrace.  They give us plenty of space and time and treat us well.  Today we were given plates of their special latkas while we waited for lunch to be served.   

Our retired teacher group skipped a meeting in August so when we got together today we had lots to talk about and catch up on.  The most common thread of conversation was how much we missed not meeting in August and how we all look forward to our monthly get togethers.

The one thing we all have in common is that we are all retired women from Packemin H.S.  Packemin is large and many of us did not know each other or had barely said more than hello to one another in all the years we worked at the same address.  Our group includes former teachers, secretaries, school aides, lab assistants, and cafeteria workers.  In retirement our former jobs don't matter.

We started this group several years ago and have gone to many different places but we recently found our "home."  Ben's in Bay Terrace not only has good food and good service but lets us use a private room in the rear of the restaurant where we take advantage of lunch menu, and have the space to walk around, talk to everyone and stay as long as we want.

Any  female retiree's from Packemin are welcome to join us.

You might be wondering why I have a photo of potato latkes and apple sauce and especially a picture that is not exceptionally good, but for once there is a relationship between my photo and this post.

Several years ago, several retired teachers from Packemin started meeting for lunch once a month.  The group started at 5 and grew to as many as 20.  We all don't make lunch every month but it doesn't matter.  We are informal and we are fun.  We never discuss school, we talk about vacations, shows, museums and everything else of interest to all.  We are together to enjoy life and to support one another when things don't go well.

Our group is all female.  We were teachers, paras, school aides, secretaries, cafeteria workers and even a former principal has joined us at times.  The only requirement to join our group is that you are female and worked at Packemin.  School is a phony world.  People we were friends with while working are not necessarily the people we choose to be with now and people we barely knew while working have become close friends.

I loved my teaching career and now I love my retirement life.  I am grateful for many of the things I got out of teaching and especially the friendships I have made after that part of my life has gone.

And now for the picture.  Every month we go to Ben's Deli in Bay Terrace.  The manager really likes our group and lets us use a back room for a "private" lunch even if only 8 of us show up.  Today he sent over this plate of latkes to feed us while we socialized and waited for our lunch. A special shout out now to Francesca, our favorite server and managers David and Hal.  We love you.

Sunday night from Anable Basin Sailing Bar and Grille in Long Island City

Inside the Tea House in the Chinese Scholar Garden at Snug Harbor.

Life in retirement is good.

Time to look at old photographs and try to make them better.

This one is sunset in Iceland.

Keeping retirement fun with two Broadway shows in one day and a walk around this beautiful city on a rainy evening.

Another benefit of retirement--UFT subway art tour with Phil-walkaboutny.com

Not having to work on a 70 degree day in November is wonderful.  

Retirement allows me the time to explore parts of the city I never knew existed.  Today my husband and I spent the afternoon at Dead Horse Bay, a small body of water near the Marine Park Bridge in Brooklyn.  We passed the afternoon photographing broken glass, bottles, shoes, construction debris and more as the area was once a land fill.  A big thank you goes to John, from my UFT Photo Class for turning us on to this wonderful area.  Here are a few photos

I sat on Rockaway Beach Friday afternoon, listening to the waves, feeling the ocean breeze while the sun gently beat down on my face and thought, this is the way to live.  I gave thanks to my former AP.  While I did not leave because of him, his attitude towards me went a long way in helping me make the decision to retire.

I could be spending the dog days of summer in a sweltering classroom or in one with a loudly running air conditioner.  I could be packing up my things every forty five minutes and moving to a new ___location to greet another group of kids who are tired and hot and not ready to be back in school.  I could be waiting for the door to opened by a scowling administrator admonishing me because a kid is sleeping or one is 30 seconds late.  I'm so happy this is all behind me.  The beach is great and knowing what I would have been doing if I did not make the decision to retire makes it so much greater.

My friend Henry retired.  He has written over and over again how much he hates the kids and hates teaching but I always knew that was not true.  Today, on Facebook, he posted a beautiful note from a student, a difficult girl who was always being punished, never talked too.  Henry took the time, on his last day, to get to know her and to try to figure out a way to get through to him.

The school system took Herny's heart for teaching and ripped it out of his chest.  I feel so sad when I think of all the students who will miss out because this man is no longer in the classroom.  I feel awful when I think of all the needy students being placed in the hands of inexperienced teachers.

Henry is not the only teacher the system ripped from the students of New York.  APs, threatened by teachers older and smarter than them are pushing them out all the time.  Melanie will never again be able to help the lowest functioning special education students learn to read and Barbara will never again touch the hearts of the non diploma bound students that were in her care.  Elaine will no longer spend weekends tutoring her math students for free and Debbie will no longer spend hours helping out with college essays.

Tenure is what kept these caring teachers in the classroom.  Miserable, incompetent APs couldn't get rid of them by rating them poorly so they drove them to retirement with horrible, disgusting attitudes.  It takes at least 3 years to learn the trade and become a good teacher.  It takes longer than that to become a master teacher.  It takes a lot less time for know nothing administrators to get great teachers out of the classroom.

A commenter on Thank You Wimps wrote some rather unpleasant names which I deleted and posted that I needed to get a life, which I also deleted because I dared to say negative things about teachers who voted for the contract.

Well dear commentator, Mr. or Ms. Unity Hack, I have a great life thanks to the union of the past.  When I began my career the UFT was actually a union by the teachers and for the teachers.  When contract terms were unacceptable, we went on strike.  Don't tell me times were different then.  Things cost less but we earned much less.  We were single wage earners with families, mortgages, college loans, etc., but we did what we had to do and our union backed us up.  When we went back to work we paid dearly (two days for every day out) but it was worth it.  Conditions and salaries were better for all.  Happier teachers made better teachers.  People wanted careers in education.

No, I don't need to get a life.  I travel, I go to the theater, I eat in nice restaurants.  I do pretty much whatever I please. The UFT of the past helped make this possible.   And, I will continue to write what I want when I want on this blog.  Mr. or Ms. Unity Hack, you probably don't want members reading this and worry they might become disillusioned with you and you will lose the nice life you have made on our backs, doing nothing to help us.  The sad part is that most teachers have no idea what is going on around them and that is what keeps creeps like you in power.

Keep writing in those nasty comments.  I will just keep hitting the delete button on my keyboard.

I have a friend who is a fantastic teacher.  He is bright, worked hard and cares for his students.  Unfortunately his Principal did not like him.  Long story short, he ended up being sent to a rubber room where he spent 5 months and then, without even being told what he was being charged with, all charges were dropped and he became an ATR.

Friend has worked in various schools.  In each, he strived to do his best.  He cared about the kids.  But a big red R was branded on his forehead and no matter how many kids he reached he was never good enough for the administration of the schools where he worked.

Friend is disillusioned and is retiring this year.  He's taken enough abuse to last multiple lifetimes and he has had enough.  He's still being abused by his Principal but he's Teflon now and has told the evil bastard to bring on the "U".  The newbies in the school have been told to stay away from him.  The only people in the school talking to him are custodians, school guards and cafeteria workers, the ones the Principal cannot control.  It doesn't bother him since these are the real people, the ones he connects to.

The school system is losing an experienced, caring educator, one who has made a difference and would be continuing to make a difference if the system permitted.  His school administration and the city are winning as they are getting rid of another senior teacher.   He is winning because he will be able to collect a nice pension for the rest of his life.  The kids are losing but no one really cares about them.  Schools are a business and kids don't show profits.