You CAN home again...but do you want to?

I spent yesterday helping the new librarian at my former school.  She is very nice but very overwhelmed so when she called to ask for help, I just couldn't say no.  (I even gave up a day of sewing with friends for this if you can believe that!)
School starts on Monday and I, wisely, have scheduled to spend the day with the most perfect grandchild in the world.  Otherwise, I know that I would have "volunteered" to get her started on her first day and that would not have been good for either of us.
What did I learn?  You can go home again but it isn't the same.  I feel good about getting her started with the database update for the students.  I worked from 8:30 to 5 and we managed to update grades 1 through 5.  She will need to do kindergarten on her own but it is doable.  Some of the teachers stopped in to visit and some barely acknowledged me in the hallway but that is nothing new.  Some administrators were more pleased to see me than others...again, nothing new.  I was able to see a couple of favorite former students and be reassured that they are ready for life after Binion.
The most important thing that I learned from yesterday is that I am glad I was able to retire.  Financially, things may be tough for awhile and we might have to give up some trips that I hoped we could take but my sanity is worth more than money.  The library schedule for the coming year is ten times worse than anything that I have been a part of in my 20+ year in education.  "Teaching" kinders for 45 minutes with no teacher assist would be torture.  I know that some of you have kindergarten students for 8 hours but your rooms and lessons are set up for this.  The library is an all-purpose room for all grades.  The schedule is not set up so that the librarian can develop "centers" for the primary grades because her next class could be a 5th grade class...don't even think about 11 year olds with play-doh! And she has absolutely no breaks in her day.  Yes, she has a duty free lunch but that comes after her daily lunchroom monitoring assignment (during which the library is closed!).  Yes, she has a daily conference period but it is at a different time every day.  I am not sure when she is going to be able to even go to the restroom as there are no "passing" periods scheduled between classes.  I know that this schedule was devised so that the teachers have more time to plan together and collaborate.  I understand the importance of that but there is no time for the librarian to collaborate with the teachers and that is what librarianship should be all about.  We are an extension of the classroom and need to reinforce what is being taught.  That cannot happen when there is no time in the day to even chat with a teacher.....oops...remember, Judy, you retired....this doesn't concern you anymore.
So...will I go back again...I am not sure.  I will continue to check in with Mrs. V but I need to learn to let it go and let her develop her own plan.  And I will not go in to help her shelve the 1000+ books that will circulate in her 6 day schedule....shelving is one of the things that I hated the most about my job.  But I am glad that I went in yesterday....John will much happier coming home to a somewhat bored wife than to a raving lunatic.  And we might actually talk about something other than school.

Here We Go

My Birdville ISD buds returned to work today.  My DH starts back tomorrow.  To celebrate the end of the summer, we spent the day with Ben, the most perfect grandchild in the Universe.  Unca Tim gave Ben another swimming lesson and after his (Ben's, not Tim's) nap, we checked out a local splash pad.  I had hoped that the splash pad would be a bigger hit than it was.  Apparently it is hard to get excited about a splash pad when you don't like the sensation of water on your head.  We finished our day with a delicious dinner prepared by DIL, Dianna, when we delivered the boy home.
So....tomorrow it begins....the first day of my retirement.  I had originally planned to jump right into my planned schedule....starting each day with my trip to the Y, cooking healthy dinners, finishing up and starting quilts that have Christmas delivery dates and sewing on Fridays with my little sewing posse...but I have changed my mind about that.  I am taking a vacation this week.  (Of course my friends think that I have been on vacation all summer but that is just not true!) I plan to do a little grocery shopping, cook what sounds good, sew what I want to sew, watch season three of Downton Abbey, stay up late reading and sleep until I feel like getting up.  I am having breakfast on Wednesday with two other retired library goddesses and will probably pick up Ben again on Thursday.  And then on Friday after a day of sewing with my buds, I think it will be time for Happy Hour at the Three Parrots.  After all, my teacher friends and family members will probably need a drink or two by then even though the children don't actually return to the classrooms until next week.  Professional development and room preparations are just as difficult as dealing with the children and the professional development portion is just plain mind numbing!
Now I need to contact my last school to remind them that I no longer work there and that they can remove my phone number and email address from the phone reminder system.  I really don't care that "Meet the Teacher night" is Thursday. 
So...let's see how this retirement thing goes......

A little pre-planning pays off

When I decided to retire, my conscience would not let me just walk out the door and let my replacement fend for herself.  There is so much to being an elementary librarian that others do not see and the beginning of new school year can be overwhelming if one has never taken on these tasks before.
First of all, each returning student's record must be updated in the database.  That means changing at least three fields (homeroom, grade, and class) for each student...all 700+ of them.  There are shortcuts but the particular company that provides our circulation software does not include them in its manual.
Likewise all teacher records in the database must be updated, especially if there were classroom or grade level changes.
And then there is equipment to be checked out to each teacher.
And lesson plans for the first day of school.
And instructions on the set up and operation of the morning announcements close circuit television system.
Not to mention decorating and making the library feel like "home".
Because I did not want any new person to come in and flounder or face overwhelming tasks, I spent many hours preparing a Binion Elementary library manual complete with instructions on how to handle all of the above situations and providing all of the passwords that the new librarian would need to even begin to operate the library.  I scheduled the book fairs for 2013-14, started the book orders in my favorite book selection sites, alphabetized all of the returning students' library cards, left one year's worth of lesson plans, gave her all of the shortcuts that would make data entry easier, and cleaned up all of the errors that I could locate in the database.
All of this information was saved on a flash drive and given to the principal who labeled it and put it away for safekeeping.  As a back up, I provided the lead librarian with a copy of the flash drive and told key teachers of its existence.
Well, I am happy to say, that the work payed off.  Today I received a call from the new librarian (I cannot call her my replacement because I'm irreplaceable, right?) gushing her thanks for my time and effort.  The flash drive was MIA until today and she had been at a loss on where to even begin.  She had checked all of my files and there was no paper trail.  Thankfully my buds mentioned the flash drive's existence to her and she was able to jog the principal's memory.  She has admitted to having a few sleepless nights so I hope that since we spoke Mrs. V will get a good night's sleep tonight.
I am still struggling with the "did I make the right decision" concerns but at least I know that I did not abandon my former life without instructions to the new kid. Every little victory helps.

These times, they are a-changin'

I've been retired since June 1st but being a teacher, I don't feel retired.  I've spent this summer break doing what I always do during the summer...traveling with my family, enjoying adventures with good friends, seeing movies and plays, playing with the most perfect grandbaby in the world and floating in Jeri's pool.  So when someone asks me, "How do you like retirement?" The honest answer is...I just don't know because I don't feel retired.
But the summer break is winding for teachers.  My teacher buds on Facebook are itching to get back into their classrooms to organize and decorate for the coming year.  My DH John is stocking up on the school supplies that his students constantly forget.  My DS Andy is busy getting his training room ready and being on hand for pre-season volleyball and football practice.  Some friends are squeezing one last quick trip before the craziness begins.  Others are finishing up professional development requirements.  And me?  I'm starting to get nervous.
I feel like I should be out shopping for a new convocation dress but since I won't be going to convocation, I don't need one.  I feel like I should be working on a book order so that I am ready when the budget is released in September but the only book budget I have now is with Barnes and Noble and my nook wishlist.  I feel like I should be working on some new lesson plans for my kindergarten visitors but the only lesson plans I have right now including reviewing colors with GS Ben.  I feel like I should be thinking of redecorating the library but the only redecorating I'm doing involves my master bathroom.
So how will I feel when my teacher friends hop on the bus and it doesn't stop for me?  How will I feel when I finally realize that my days as Mrs. D. are finally over?  How much will I miss the way that a group of kindergarten students vibrate when they are engrossed in a story?  How much of a hole will there be in my heart when I don't have my fifth grade posse with all of their drama to fill it?  I honestly don't know.
I've considered lots of day-filling options like subbing (but only in the libraries), getting a part-time job (but where?), volunteering in friends' classrooms (not thrilled with that option), or volunteering in an elementary library (but I hate shelving).  Nothing feels like a good fit.
So that's where this blog comes in.  I hope to use it to explore my options and I hope that you'll come along as I attempt to reinvent Mrs. D.