Thread:CorgiMom/@comment-34076922-20190201025340/@comment-29989042-20190209170237

Hope you had good luck last night! 🍀

My first teaching job was in a small public-school district towards the coast. In town, there was an elementary school, middle school and high school. They also had two two-room schools (both grades 1-4) out in the coast range. I taught 3rd and 4th grades for nine years at one of the two-room schools. I also became head teacher after teaching there for six months. At the time, the state of Oregon only had six two-room schools left, so it was an AMAZING life experience, as well as a wonderful career experience. Across the highway was a Christmas tree farm, on one side of the school was a sheep far, the other a cattle farm. Out back behind the school was the coast range. I had gorgeous views wherever I looked and learned to herd sheep and cows back into their own fields. At first it was culture shock for this city girl, born and started school in Los Angeles, and then having moved to the Portland area of Oregon from San Francisco. I grew to love it out in the country and thought I’d retire there. I eventually married, and we had two sons within 20 months of each other. I found it hard to be the mommy I wanted to be while at the same time being the teacher I wanted to be, so I resigned from teaching to be a stay-at-home mom. When our youngest entered kindergarten, I went back to teaching as librarian in our sons’ private Christian school. After a few years in the library (where I taught K-8th graders), I went back to classroom teaching for the 5th grade. I was our youngest son’s teacher the first year I was in 5th grade. I taught there for a total of 11 years. The last year I taught, I taught 6th Grade Home Room (Bible, Spelling, Reading, and Science), taught several grades in our computer lab, and was my school’s curriculum writer and coordinator. In the spring of the last year I was there, I have foot-reconstruction surgery on my left foot and couldn’t return to teaching for the rest of that school year. (The building was three stories and over 100 years old, so there was no elevator, and I couldn’t climb steps for over three months). I signed my contract to become the 6-8 grades’ science and math teacher during the 2015-16 school year, but during that summer I was recuperating from the foot surgery, it became more obvious to my sleep doctor and myself just how severe my narcolepsy with cataplexy was, so I retired early to take care of myself. That period of my life was one of the toughest times I’d ever gone through. I loved my job and my people, but mentally and physically, I had nothing left. I was eventually awarded disability, so now I am always at home. I’m finally at peace, too, and that means the world to me. 😊

So sorry this is so long!