Why I Enjoy Retirement

What is it like to be a teacher? One man’s opinion. Teaching, as a profession, it’s all I’ve ever known. I had dreams of doing other things but those were just that, dreams. Growing up in the 40s, the dreams of many were dashed. Please realize that these are simply my feelings and that I’m not complaining. As I look back on my career in teaching, I am very satisfied with what teaching did for me. 

For me, I discovered that most of the time, my students were my teachers. For many of my students, I marveled at their intellect, they challenged me to learn more. For the troubled students that gave me fits, they challenged me to understand student differences. I realized very soon that I loved them all. Again, my students became my teachers. 

Having grown up in the ‘4os and 50’s, scientific knowledge was limited compared to the present. How surprising it was to me when one of my Biology students would explain to me in 1961 that Watson and Crick had elucidated the structure of DNA in 1953. I’ll bet that some of my students of 60 years ago can still explain photosynthesis and its importance to all life on earth.

In graduate school, as a Masters Degree Student, I was proud of the science education that had been provided for me by the professors at TCC (now CCSU). Teachers must always be learners and I, as have many others, received more graduate degrees since then.

In general, teachers today get a bad rap. Do teachers deserve criticism? Certainly! Please don’t be one of those that criticizes teachers for things for which they are not responsible.  Remember, teachers didn’t raise your child

 

Louis G. Salvio