Career Opportunities

It was a tough week at school. Nothing too awful, but I found myself on Thursday morning sitting in another teacher's classroom before the morning bell, talking about the way things were. And the way we wished things were. Then he asked me, "Were you thinking you were going to retire from here?" Not in any kind of sarcastic way, but out of real interest.
I told him I wasn't sure. Certainly each passing year puts me one step closer to that gold watch moment, or in my case, gold bullhorn. I'm the guy who doesn't mind standing in front of the whole school and leading the morning affirmation, or the Halloween March Around The Block. That's the guy I have been for twelve years. By some reckoning, that puts me somewhere around the half-way mark, retirement-wise. Would I really stay at one school for another decade and a half? Will I still roll out of bed to greet the newest crop of elementary students when I'm sixty four?
Then came the next obvious question: "What else would you do?"
Well, I could get my administrative credential and "join the dark side." I could become a consultant. I've heard they make a lot more money than teachers, and after they tell you how to run your classroom or school, they don't get tested. I could turn my vast experience with elementary school computer labs into a job with educational software. Or maybe I could chuck it all and go back to writing screenplays. I have two that are sitting around in my cyber-desk drawer, in addition to an episode of "Northern Exposure" and a friend and I wrote one for "Friends." Since neither one of those shows is currently on the air, and the screenplays still need a lot of work, it's probably easier to stick with the job I've got. For now.
Next week I'll be five days closer to retirement.