Back to the Grind!

I promised a career update a long time ago and never delivered, so here it is! As many of my followers know, after my 5th year of educating fourth graders, I resigned from teaching this past June.

The 3 IVF miscarriages and years of fertility treatments had taken a toll on me. Leading twenty-four 10 year old kids in the middle of a miscarriage is far from easy.  Forget the hormones, egg retrievals, transfers, and such. I could manage to juggle those. It was the loss that was inexplicably difficult.

Now, don’t get me wrong, even though I resigned, my passion is to teach.  There is no feeling better than watching a child reach a level of success that they never thought they could reach.  The look on their face when they finally “get it” is irreplaceable.  And this goes for all students, not just the academically challenged, but the academically gifted too.  There is always a higher threshold to push them to, regardless of their so-called “level.”

This being said, I continued to work through my first 2 losses, only missing a day here or there (I had already missed days due to the IVF treatments).  I couldn’t stand the thought of letting my students down by not being there.  Plus, I am Type-A to the fullest, and the thought of losing control over my classroom drove me bonkers.  I don’t mean to sound conceited, or whatever you want to call it, but I knew that the person standing in my room just couldn’t deliver it to them the way I could. Yes, there are plenty of amazingly intelligent subs out there, but its not the same when they dont have that ongoing relationship with the child that the classroom teacher does. 

But when the 3rd and latest loss at almost 10 weeks happened, I couldn’t work through it like I had the others.  A.k.a. Game over.  I put in a medical leave for 1 month. I could have taken off 2 months, but that would have meant I would have missed all of their state testing.  I knew they needed the comfort of me and only me watching over them during those tests.  That is the only reason I came back after a month.  

While I was home during my medical leave, I was still working.  I went in before the subs got there in the mornings, made copies, created lesson plans, collected student papers, graded them, entered their grades, sent emails, etc.  It never stopped.  Not for one minute.

After my leave ended, I made it through the remaining 3 months of school left.  I underwent 2 surgeries during that time; it was tough, but my students always gave me purpose.  I knew how much they depended on me.  They brought me joy during such a terrible time, and I had missed them while I was gone.  It was only because of them that those 3 months flew by.

Thankfully, I was surrounded with supportive people throughout all of this.  The administration at my school encouraged me to take the time I needed to heal physically and mentally.  My RE gave me no trouble at all with filling out the needed paperwork so I could get approval by the school board.  Aflac also approved the leave and I actually got paid during it (not what I would have had I been working, but still something).

When the year ended and I put in my resignation, I really had no idea where God would lead me.  All I knew at that time was that I needed a change.  

I started looking for some employment here and there.  I knew I would continue to teach at the college come fall semester (I am signed up to teach two fall classes by the way!), but wasn’t sure what else I would do, if anything.  I went for a few interviews, and the day that I was offered a part-time gig at one of them my phone rang.

I was informed that one of the third grade teachers at the school I had taught at for 5 years had resigned during summer.  I was asked if I would be interested in taking the position.  Until that phone call, I had never considered going back.  Not once. But all of sudden, I was thinking.  And sooner rather than later, I realized I was thinking hard (remember my passion is to teach!).

I started talking with my family about the possibility.  If they didn’t think it was a good idea, I knew it couldn’t be.  That would make the decision very easy for me. But surprisingly, they were not against it at all. So, we started praying about it.  We made a list of the pros and cons.  I began talking to some of 3rd grade teachers that I would be working with.  I talked with my team of administrators.  I wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page…God forbid this could all happen again. I didn’t want any secrets about where we were in our so-called journey.

And lo and behold, I accepted the position! I signed on for this upcoming school year as a 3rd grade teacher, and I must tell you, I am so very excited about it.

God is simply amazing in how he works.  If I hadn’t resigned in June, I would not have ended up with this fresh start in my comfort zone.  It’s not everyday that you find bosses who want you back, even after all you have gone through. Most would probably be glad to see you go (keeping it real).

My new team is wonderful in every way.  Everyone knows our story, and is rooting us on.  My classroom is pretty much all put together now (thanks to my hubby and my mom) and I received my class list.  We only have 1 week until the students return (August 17th), but us teachers will be there for the entire week prior, starting tomorrow.  Yep, summer is officially over!

I wanted to update all of my fellow bloggers for a few reasons…1.) To share the great news of course! and 2.) In case I start to fall a little behind in responding to posts, or you don’t see posts from me as often, you will know why, and 3.) For lots of prayers for a SMOOTH school year (we will be doing a FET in October).

It will most likely be a busy few weeks as we start out the school year in 3rd grade, plus teaching the 2 college courses. Wish me luck!  I will post pics of my room soon 🙂

P.S. This is our last FB connected post (if you follow us only through FB).  Our page will still appear on FB, but no new posts will run through it!