What is your job?

[tjcurtin1]

I have the best job in the world. I teach at a Waldorf school, where today I graduated my 8th grade class after having started with them in first grade. They are beautiful human beings and it has been a great honor to accompany them on their journey. They are also good musicians - at graduation they performed a beautiful arrangement of 'Ashokan Farewell' we worked up for soprano, alto and tenor recorders, cello and two guitars. Next year I get to go back to first grade and do it again!

EDIT: Sorry if that opening line sounds obnoxious - I was pretty high that day!

[sunvalleylaw]

I have the best job in the world. I teach at a Waldorf school, where today I graduated my 8th grade class after having started with them in first grade. They are beautiful human beings and it has been a great honor to accompany them on their journey. They are also good musicians - at graduation they performed a beautiful arrangement of 'Ashokan Farewell' we worked up for soprano, alto and tenor recorders, cello and two guitars. Next year I get to go back to first grade and do it again!

That sounds like a great job! : :

[piebaldpython***]

I have the best job in the world. I teach at a Waldorf school, where today I graduated my 8th grade class after having started with them in first grade. They are beautiful human beings and it has been a great honor to accompany them on their journey. They are also good musicians - at graduation they performed a beautiful arrangement of 'Ashokan Farewell' we worked up for soprano, alto and tenor recorders, cello and two guitars. Next year I get to go back to first grade and do it again!

So, you have them ALL 8 years? WOW, I never heard of that. That can be very rewarding......OR.....hell on earth, depending on the kids.

[tjcurtin1]

So, you have them ALL 8 years? WOW, I never heard of that. That can be very rewarding......OR.....hell on earth, depending on the kids.

Yep, 4 of them have been with me since first grade, and the rest for from 2 to 5 years, having joined us along the way. It's a brilliant part of the Waldorf curriculum in my experience. The class becomes a kind of family. It can be challenging and demanding work, but I've never found it onerous. When you know that a child will be with you for 8 years, it creates a different expectation for you both, an incentive - a need - to find a way to meet that child and to find a way to love them. It's usually not hard - kids are naturally wonderful people and can stay that way if you give them good experiences and protect their childhood from being overwhelmed by the pressures of contemporary culture. Actually, a lot depends on the parents and their willingness to work with the program!