I can't be that OLD!

I went to a conference today at school (and tomorrow too). It has been very informative and I really feel like I have learned a lot. However, I had a little reminder today that I too (like everyone else) am getting OLD.

While sitting in my first session this morning, I am talking to some other teachers. We are making connections - pretty much it went like this... Oh, you teach at _________? Do you know __________? This happened with 3 different people in a very small room. One of the ladies that I made a connection with said, "You know a lot of people." (I guess I thought) and then this other lady came in and sat down right beside me and said...You (meaning me) taught my baby!!! I was like, "I did?" I probably looked very confused, because up until that moment it really hadn't dawned on me how many classes of students I had really taught. I guess, I thought I would always be able to tell you every single student and parent that I had ever come in contact with. I still would say the student part. I love teaching and the students are the most important part. O.K. sorry for the side track.... " You know you did"...Me - Still looking confused, I asked what her name was and once she said it I instantly remembered. However, in the next moment when I asked what grade she was in made me feel SO old. She is in 7th grade! I couldn't believe it. But it gets better. This girl wasn't in my first class that I ever taught. After the conversation with her mother today I started thinking about my first class...do you know what grade they will be entering into this fall???


11th Grade


I must have tried to block much of that first year of teaching out of my mind by not taking any pictures. It was a tough year...I mean isn't it always rough starting a new job, getting engaged, planning a wedding, buying a house and redoing said house all within 12 months??? So the first picture is of the day we got engaged...the Thursday before I started teaching. Here is a walk down memory lane...

Please note the 2nd and 3rd picture. These were taken the within one day of each other. I was surplussed schools. In a nutshell, I had a class for 6 weeks and was moved to another class (who had had another teacher).