On the last day of my 34 years of teaching at WHS, I snapped a photo of my 1st block world history class. It was posted to this blog on May 25, 2011. And today I post the last 2nd year class I will teach at LATI. That's why I'm calling this post "This Is It, Too."

Of course today's photo isn't an exact replica of the first shot. We aren't in a classroom and in hind sight my students should have been holding their cameras. My students from two years ago are holding their laptops up because the "Learning With Laptops" program at WHS caused one of the biggest (and best) changes in the way I taught.

Anyway, it's been a great experience teaching all the things I've taught, ranging from American Literature to AP European History to Advanced Digital Photography. I don't have anything too profound to say here, though I will copy and paste what I said to my facebook friends yesterday. These words accompanied the photo I posted to this blog yesterday:

Wednesday is traditionally known as "hump day" - the day we see as the downhill slide to yet another weekend. But for me, today is my last hump day.

Yes, I am retiring after spending 36 1/2 years of my life as a classroom teacher.

My photo of cows grazing serenely in a glorious sunrise is an appropriate metaphor of how I see my retirement: I think I may relax a little more but every day ahead of me offers another set of amazing opportunities. Surrounded by all of the good people I know and love, how can this not be true?

To all of my former students, who are also my friends here on fb, I offer my gratitude. You will never know how profoundly you have helped shape the person I have become.

I use the word "become" because I truly believe that life is not so much about the person we are as it is about the person we are constantly becoming. . .

I realize that a humans are like the stream that the Greek atomist philosopher Heraclitus talked about: we are in a constant state of change. And, as Martha Stewart, says, "That's a good thing. . . . "

(Picture from left to right, back row first: Teresa B, Elsa M Lindsey J, Dana R, Shelby B; Tiffany P, Katie S, Kelsie E, Alli A, Valerie F; No pictured: Jennifer D, Dakotah D, Megan P., Ashely H)