When I think back on a career that lasted 39 years the one thing I would like to be remembered for is the opportunity I gave my students to discover learning through a variety of methods.

I never believed learning was only in text books but rather it came from experience and I offered my students a lot of those. When I lived in the country, I took students on a tour of the southern part of our state and for many coming from a small country town it was their first experience of a world outside their own.

Later I became a drama teacher and understood the great potential the arts had in shaping every student’s outlook on life. Drama was instrumental in the lives of so many of my students as it offered them a discipline that was different to that of their Maths, English and Science classes.

Many of them thrived in the drama environment, and they allowed me to facilitate their learning through the experience of dramatic practice. I wrote a few musicals and turned them into meaningful productions that impacted greatly on the students involved.

Very few ever went on to become actors etc. but many of them were grateful for the opportunity to learn about themselves, grow in confidence, explore their individual capabilities and take what they learned with them through life.

So, that part of my life is over, and what I achieved I am comfortable with.

With my family that is on-going. I’d like to think my children are who they are because I encouraged them, supported them in their life decisions and I have always tried to be there for them.

What is left to do is to work on my grand parenting skills, as I don’t think I’m as good a grandfather as I was a dad…but like everything in life, such things can be viewed as a work in progress.

Written for: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/reenas-exploration-challenge-week-13/