Category Archives: Employment

waste not; want not

Posted on August 15, 2015 by bakrawiec

Based on prior posts you know: I left 50 unused, unreimbursed sick days on the table. Where did they go? Nowhere. Where could they have gone? Into a sick bank. Certainly a sick bank is not an uncommon phenomenon, even … Continue reading →

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50 unused sick days: why I left them

Posted on August 14, 2015 by bakrawiec

Piggybacking on the last post: Yes! Despite my financial advisor’s advice to the contrary, I left fifty unused sick days on the table, in part, for all the reasons explained previously. However, if I’m honest with myself, there was yet … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Employment, Lesson plans, Retirement, Students, Substitutes, Teachers, Teaching | Leave a comment

sick days: take them or leave them?

Posted on August 13, 2015 by bakrawiec

When our financial adviser reviewed my assets in anticipation of possible retirement, he assumed (incorrectly!) that I would be “paid” for unused sick days. ..At the time, I had more than fifty of them. “Well, then,” he advised, “if you … Continue reading →

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morning after: lame duck librarian

Posted on August 11, 2015 by bakrawiec

Assuming that the Board appointed my replacement last night, I’m even more officially a lame duck librarian this morning. Meanwhile, until my work account ends on August 31st, I continue receiving email notifications concerning boxes upon boxes of new books … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Children, Education, Employment, Librarian, LIbrarians, Library, Library Media Specialist, Retirement, School, Seniors, Teachers, Teaching, Transitions | Leave a comment

Replaced…will (should???) anything remain?

Posted on August 10, 2015 by bakrawiec

Retirement is getting “realer” and “realer.” July 13th, the Board of Education accepted and approved my resignation as an elementary library media specialist for retirement purposes. Tonight, just about one month later, they are expected to approve the hiring of … Continue reading →

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unfortunately…forced into leaving teaching

Posted on August 9, 2015 by bakrawiec

In an earlier post, I compared “social media” constraints at the end of my teaching career with “social” (public drinking) constraints at its start. In that post, I wondered if the anti-public drinking constraint was aimed particularly at women. …Would … Continue reading →

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to drink or not to drink in public…

Posted on August 7, 2015 by bakrawiec

In a recent post, I alluded to occupational constraints regarding the personal use of social media, put in place in what has turned out to be my last teaching job. Reminds me that at the other end of my teaching … Continue reading →

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25 years after the head-on crash, I’m headed in a new direction

Posted on August 6, 2015 by bakrawiec

It was twenty-five years ago this morning that a routine drive to work on a rainy Monday morning ended up with a totaled car and physical injuries, resulting from a head-on crash with a pick-up truck on a major highway. … Continue reading →

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something old; something new…not involving weddings

Posted on August 5, 2015 by bakrawiec

Of all the additional expenses I imagined I might have in retirement, here’s one I underestimated. Fortunately, on the one hand, it’s a relatively low cost item. And totally discretionary. On the other hand, the cumulative cost of how many … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Employment, Retirement, School, Students, Teaching, Transitions, Work, Writing | 2 Comments

time out

Posted on August 4, 2015 by bakrawiec

When I started teaching, I felt sad that forty-eight minute classes were totally insufficient for students to experience my ambitious plans for exciting learning. With so much “great stuff” I wanted to facilitate on a daily basis, P.A. announcements, fire … Continue reading →

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