To say that life is different these days is an understatement.  So much has changed that it’s hard to remember what life was like before last March.  In my case, as some of you know, I changed jobs.  I went from the craziness of the elementary classroom to the relative calm of a room full of cubicles and adults. Let’s face it, kids say and do the darndest things.  Yes, you’re on a rigid schedule where there is little flexibility, but within the classroom, unexpected, funny things happen.  It’s just what happens when you have a room full of children.  There are times when you can’t help but laugh and others when you can’t do anything but shake your head in disbelief.  But through it all, as a teacher you are to be professional, careful not to say inappropriate things or talk about anything that that children shouldn’t hear.  If you’re talking to a colleague about something funny, but not for children’s ears, you’re careful to speak in hushed tones, away from them.  And you would never hear someone across the room say “bring some beer”.

The department where I work is full of consummate professionals, the hustle and bustle of the work they do is energizing, with multiple conversations going on at once, some in small groups or with a partner across the aisle from you or speaking on a zoom.  But the other day, a voice said out loud, “bring some beer!”.  I immediately looked to make sure there weren’t any children around.  Duh, we’re obviously all adults, but it still took me by surprise.  I quickly figured out it was a zoom meeting because I heard laughter from another closed office, repeating the beer statement.  

Why was this a big deal for me?  After all, it’s an entire floor of professional adults, self-directed, intelligent people doing their jobs who occasionally tell a funny joke or talk about things other than the next professional development session they’re going to provide.  But as someone who was usually the only adult in a classroom with 25 kids all day long, it’s taking a little time to get used to. And quite frankly, it’s funnier to hear a kid say something like “bring some beer”.  I had a kid ask me one time what my favorite beer was.  I had to tell him I don’t like beer, so I didn’t have a favorite.  I’m sure he was crushed.  

 As the eternal introvert, the idea of walking in, saying hi to a few people and sitting at my cubicle to work on projects in whatever order I want, not effected by the behavior of a group of 5-11 year olds is a great thing, something I’m thrilled I’m doing. But there is something about being in that room by yourself with the kids that is both energizing and exhausting.  In the last few years, it was becoming more exhausting than energizing, so despite the fact that I really loved making music with kids, I really began to hate the institution.  It was time to go, maybe going somewhere where I could work to improve the institution.

For whatever reason, I’ve heard from several former students this past week, and it brings bittersweet memories.  I miss them.  But it also gives me a little hope that somewhere I made a bit of a difference in the lives of my students.  That’s the idea, right?  Teachers teach to make a difference.  And now I work with other former classroom teachers to make a difference in the lives of other teachers so that students will have the best of the best in my district.  And once in a while, I suppose I might hear some things said that I would not have said in my classroom.  But if I had, I would have said, “bring some wine”, not beer.