Professional Crossroads

This is my 21st year teaching.  Twenty one years is a really long time....at least for a career.  I really enjoy teaching so the time is flying.  I cannot believe  how fast each school year goes by.  I think they seem to go faster every year.  I am always counting down the days left.  People think it is because I am waiting for the end or the next vacation.  It is mostly so that students are aware how little time there is left in a quarter and how much we still need to accomplish.

So.  Twenty one years.  I keep contemplating my next career move and I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.    I mean really....I joke with  people that I want to be  a stand up comedian and I am  just practicing my material in the classroom.  I'm really not funny though.

I thought about being a guidance counselor...I don't think I would enjoy working as a guidance counselor.

I  completed a principal training program (never  applied for the license).....I don't think I like what principals and assistant principals do?

That principal license could lend itself to administrative positions...I don't really think I  would like any of those jobs either...too far away from students.

I thought about  working on a transition endorsement.  It would be coursework that would  help me be qualified to  work with students in  community based training programs....I kind of like this idea....It would be  helping students  become ready for the world of work.  So I guess this thought is still on the table.

I have contacted  a couple of doctorate programs.  This is mostly because I have this thought way in the back of my head that I might want to teach at the college level.  It intrigues me but I  don't have the confidence that I  can do this kind of work.....not the college level teaching but the  dissertation and all that it involves.  I think to some degree, completing this kind of work would turn my life upside down and I am not sure I want to do that.  It's a big decision because it does not only uproot me but my husband as well.  It's still on the table but....

I do know one thing:  I am really happy being a teacher.  I love working with students.  I love having conversations with them that promote thinking.  I love  being in the classroom. I love teaching!