Comments:
Started my 41st year of teaching in Fall, '21. I believe strongly that teachers should get out if they are tired of it; I still love it (Math and Chemistry), and enjoy working with kids from Grade 4 through high school and beyond. It's all about teaching students to think clearly and incisively, so that they can be educated members of society.
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Being blessed with a child (16) years ago has continually put things in perspective for me. It's a profound responsibility and privilege to be able to help shape someone's beliefs and values (and political beliefs!). Caleb's political instincts are now about equal to those of the pundits we'll read about in 2012.
On a separate note, it is my sincere hope that none of us has lost "the edge". I am hopeful that we are all still impatient with the wrongs of the world, and have not grown complacent as we have gained some wisdom. I further hope that we are still activists, continuing to make this country and world more liberal, educated and environmentally sound. To me, this is close to "what it's all about".
I have found that the old adage that we get more patient as we get older is clearly untrue for a good part of my life. I now have almost no patience with the ills of the world, especially meanness, violence in any form, and even folks who act in a totally uneducated way (hurting others in doing so, or as voters). It is essential, I believe, for us to use our wisdom to change the ills of our nation, and to make it a more fair, just, humane, and environmentally secure place.
