Reposting the link Kevin Sullivan on Teaching last week led to several favorable comments, and reminded me that I haven’t written much about the afterglow of my decade teaching 8^th grade U.S. History.

My previous musings are here: Paul's Tales of Teaching

I fulfilled my promise to myself: “retire before you start phoning it in.” I could see the phone looming, so I put down my PowerPoint clicker in June 2014 after 11 years. I taught a little more than 1,000 students, the last of whom will graduate college with the class of 2022.

People tend to stick around in this corner of suburbia, so I frequently run into former students. My curse―no memory for names―means I smile and ask for help remembering their name before I inquire about how their life has gone. It has been a pleasant surprise how many of them utter variations on the theme, “You were the best teacher I ever had.” Beats the hell out of the alternative.

I was eccentric. I kept the room cold and dim. There were pedagogical reasons: cold kept my students awake, dim, in my experience, resulted in better behavior. Also, I operate better when properly chilled. It was my observation that bright lights riled students up. Students certainly remember my classroom as a standout experience.

I often said, “If you can come back and tell me these four things 10 years from now, I’ll give you $20.” Since I, too, have forgotten what they were, I’d pay off any sincere attempt. So far, what I get is, “Damn, I wish I could remember those four things…”