About this retirement thing

A colleague asked do you think about retirement... He said, I'm out of here as soon as possible. Perhaps there is something wrong with me, because my plan is to stay as long as possible. I have one retirement clock, when it tells me I am no longer relevant then I am out the door. 
In the meantime, as a senior faculty member I model that knowledge is important, but humanity is more important. We can teach from a stance of love, we can teach from a stance of hope, and we can teach from a position that there is no room for injustice in education. My students are not problems, they are the possibilities for newer and better tomorrows. I am not deficit driven. I am not superior to those I teach, we are connected together in a transformative circle of teaching and learning. It's a reciprocal relationship of a love of learning that is as old as that first fire pit, where people looked at the stars, and ask why. 
My plan is to mentor our new faculty, work with them to bring the humanity back into higher education, and heck before I'm gone there going to be free tuition, and student loan forgiveness. 
So my work is cut out, but my heart is strong. I am staying healthy, eating healthy, and walking my way to longevity. I'm in this for the long haul, and the long haul is good for me. I'm a ghetto kid, whose luck took me to places I never dreamed, and living that dream for as long as possible. 
A secret to keep your teaching spirit healthy.. is live healthy. A healthy mind, requires a healthy body, and keeping my spirit healthy is seeing the bigger picture in teaching and learning. I teach with a sense of moral duty, and to connect my mission to teaching and learning for the great good keeps me relevant and young.

Another truth, about keeping your teaching and learning fresh...One important aspect of learning and teaching, for me is fighting in and out of the classroom for our children, parents, teachers, and our public schools. I can't teach in insolation in our Literacy Center, pretending inequity, poverty, and racism are not connected to preparing future educators.
I can't let pessimism, doom and gloom over shadow hope. So, even though this world is imperfect, and I can't control the world, I can make our Literacy Center a place of love, hope, justice, and equity for every child that comes through our doors. Trust me, on this one thing, our teachers recognize hope, and know they to can achieve some sense of humanity, dignity, and hope within their own classrooms. You might say HOPE is my superpower.So about retiring...not even thinking of laying this hammer down,
Jesse The Walking Mn Turner 
If you like to listen to the tune this walking man was listening to on his morning walk today...it's Steve Earle's "Steve's Hammer" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx9SGI97wuU