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This is my last year teaching, and I know I am OVER IT, but I still find myself "teary-eyed" at times knowing whatever I do this year, it will be the last time. I cried when I picked up my room keys, I welled up at Open House when I explained to a set of parents that this was my last one (but then, too, I am not sure if it was due to a parent asking if I taught at another high school in '85, only to discover she had been one of my students! ). And as we ending reading The Crucible in my last period class on Friday, tears began to fall as I realized I would never be teaching it again.
SO is this normal? I know I am ready mentally, but at times like these, I begin to wonder if I really should be leaving!
Sounds like you're grieving.."the last this and the last that".
What about the future ? What are you looking forward to once you retire ?
Maybe you should focus on that as well as grieve what you are leaving.
Retirement is not "the end" but a beginning of your next great adventure !
With me it was just the opposite; as I got closer to the actual date of retirement I became more and more convinced that I had made the right decision. Any nagging doubts that I may have had in the months leading up to actually making the decision to retire disappeared once I gave notice, which was about 3 or 4 months before my actual retirement date. By the last month or so my only regret was in not deciding to leave even earlier.
But everyone is different, and I imagine that it's not unusual to have some last minute jitters. Good luck to you and I hope everything works out.
Sounds like you're grieving.."the last this and the last that".
What about the future ? What are you looking forward to once you retire ?
Maybe you should focus on that as well as grieve what you are leaving.
Retirement is not "the end" but a beginning of your next great adventure !
I took the early retirement at 62. Because I took the early retirement SS will only allow me to make a little over 14K per year. So I took a part time job. I work for the first few months each year and then I’m retired the rest of the year.
It is kind of like sticking your toe in the water to see if it’s too cold. It also helps keep me in shape - I usually loose ten to twenty pounds when I work. The only problem that I have is that when I reach full retirement age next year - I might want to work longer. I have been working for the same company for three years and have a good relationship with them.
If work isn’t your thing. Maybe you should be focusing on a hobby or vacations?
High school teachers, as well as teachers of younger students at middle schools and elementary schools, can have such different experiences depending on which school it is, how that school is run, what sort of classes they are assigned to teach, the kinds of students who attend that school, and their own personalities and temperaments. For some teachers, the stress is enormous and they can't wait to get out; some even retire early because their mental health is more important than maximizing their pension. Others find what they do so gratifying and satisfying in a very deep way, even though everything may not be sweetness and light at all times. It sounds like the OP is in the latter category, which makes her feelings totally understandable. That makes it difficult to retire, but she is so fortunate to feel that way, as she has had that meaningful career.
I took the early retirement at 62. Because I took the early retirement SS will only allow me to make a little over 14Kper year. So I took a part time job. I work for the first few months each year and then I’m retired the rest of the year.
I know what you mean but the way you stated it is not quite right. Actually, Social Security "allows" you to make whatever you can; you can make millions. What they do is reduce your SS retirement benefits if you make over that annual limit and you have not yet reached full retirement age. However, that "lost" money from your benefits is not lost forever; upon reaching full retirement age, Social Security will re-compute your benefit so that you will eventually get the withheld money back. What I don't know is how long it takes to recoup it.
i worked for 38 years , and although i enjoyed some of my jobs, work was never the center of my life. i thought 38 years was more than enough.
i "retired" at 60 at a time of great transition in my life. my husband had died 18 months before,i had my pension, his pension, and i could receive, at 60, social security survivor's benefits on his account. i had to pay for my own health care insurance, which was very expensive, but some of the cost could be counted as an income tax deduction. i thought i could handle the cost until i became 65.
as important as these considerations were, the job i was in, once generally satisfying, had changed negatively with a new administration, more travel, more stress. also, of major consideration, i had become involved in a new relationship, and the significant other was already retired.
frankly, i did not give retirement a great deal of thought. i knew i could make it on the income i had, and i would receive more social security on my own account when i became 66. also, i knew that i would not save enough in five years to, in my mind, make it worth staying in an increasingly unpleasant work enviornment.
when i left the job, i did very part time consulting work for about a year, but soon felt this was taking more time than i wanted to invest. i am fortunate that things did work out as they have. in the years since i've been retired, i've written and self-published two books, and have begun working 8 hours a week teaching writing to adults in a continuing education program. i never would have imagined any of this when i stopped working at 60, and i have no regrets.
catsy girl
Last edited by catsy girl; 09-18-2011 at 11:05 AM..
Reason: spelling error
This is my last year teaching, and I know I am OVER IT, but I still find myself "teary-eyed" at times knowing whatever I do this year, it will be the last time. I cried when I picked up my room keys, I welled up at Open House when I explained to a set of parents that this was my last one (but then, too, I am not sure if it was due to a parent asking if I taught at another high school in '85, only to discover she had been one of my students! ). And as we ending reading The Crucible in my last period class on Friday, tears began to fall as I realized I would never be teaching it again.
SO is this normal? I know I am ready mentally, but at times like these, I begin to wonder if I really should be leaving!
Is retiring really what you WANT to do? If it is, retirement should be viewed as transitioning to what you really WANT to do...not giving up something. I've been retired 4 1/2 years, and...for the last few years I was working, I was looking forward to redirecting my energy to my hobbies and interests away from work.
Do you have a plan or are you just retiring because you think you're supposed to for some reason?
I can't say that my own personal plan has been carried out the way I expected. As John Lennon said, "Life is what HAPPENS while you're busy making plans." Yet, I have never looked back and wished I had not retired. I was burned out from being in an executive position for too many years.
I have a brother-in-law who retired less than a year ago, and he hates it. I'm not really surprised, as he seemed to have no interests outside of work.
So...please ask yourself if you REALLY want to retire and if you have a plan to redirect your energy and interests to other things. You probably have skills that could be utilized in many other ways (volunteer work...whatever). Once retired...many people still have a drive and desire to contribute in some way...and you don't have to give that up.
Why not just substitute? It gives you the best of both worlds. Work when you want or just stay home. You still see old friends and students but on a part time basis. My neighbor was a teacher and she is now a sub and she loves it. Just enough people contact and plenty of time off.
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). And as we ending reading The Crucible in my last period class on Friday, tears began to fall as I realized I would never be teaching it again. 
