Amy Scott, who had one more year left of teaching before she would end a 45-year run in the Miami-Dade school system, wasn’t really prepared to retire this year.
Scott added that she’s hardly a luddite, and has learned to appreciate some aspects of distant engagement. For example, one-on-one conversations — where you can see a student rather than simply talk by phone — was a helpful feature that allows for greater engagement than just posting on social media.
“I think a lot of teachers don’t feel safe, but they don’t have the privilege I do to retire,” Scott told Yahoo Finance. “The kids are telling me the Zoom interviews with former students form all walks of life were tremendously helpful,” she said. “They learned so much of the world. What they learned was always ended up in a different spot than they thought they were going to be— thats how it should be.”
Embracing retirementScott believes that now more than ever, the critical thinking skills she teaches are important to the current moment.