I'm not Quitting...

I'm in Anchorage for the job fair and have felt fairly guilty this last week, especially today. With the bond I have created with my students I feel as though I owe them so much more. They were all asking me where I was going today. I told them Anchorage. They asked me why. I told them for "Teacher Meetings". For those that have asked straight out whether I was coming back next year I have told them the truth. My sixth graders know that I am looking for a new job, but my fifth graders, the ones I would be teaching next year, don't.

After a rough two days and a decent Wednesday, I had about a perfect day today. The students were incredible. They are a roller coaster and I think that's awesome because I am about the same way.

So finally with more than two channels I was able to choose what I watched tonight. Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" gave me some great advise. He said that quitting is given an incredibly bad reputation. You can't get to the next stage in your life without "quitting." In his eyes, it's not quitting, it's completing. I would have to say I am doing exactly that. There is so much I am still doing with the classes that they either need to finish before being promoted or basic information that I feel they should learn from me and my experiences. I have seen (am seeing) other teachers just do the bare minimum to finish what they need to in order to not lose sanity and not have to plan lessons on the weekend. I want to give these students the best semester they've had and prepare them for next year and the rest of their life.

On a lighter note, I am hooked up! I booked a room on hotwire and am staying in about the best room I've ever had for 50 bucks a night. Big suite, a couple couches, fridge, kitchenette, huge bed, incredible shower... even an iron (I struggled operating that silly thing.) The flight here was a bit rocky. I booked on a smaller airline instead of the usual Alaska Airline. It sat 12 people and was pretty tippy. There were times when the entire plane would shift left to right. I tried to sleep, but it was pretty loud. At any rate, we landed and didn't crash so I was happy.

Job fair starting at 9:00 tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Have a good weekend!