Spending time with my two of my great-grandmothers. Both women were teachers in one-room school houses in rural Indiana post WWI. I loved to hear the stories about teaching grades 1-8, and the challenges of teaching to all grade levels. The challenges of teaching children whose first obligation was helping the family on the farm. I loved hearing about how they taught beginning reading, using the Sears catalog. When you think of the theories that are used today vs. the theories of yesterday, they really haven’t changed. The materials may have, but the basic premises of education has not.I loved hearing about the “political” aspect of the job, such as women could no longer teach if they were married, how they had to live and worship, and how they had to upkeep the school. I laughed, because one of my beloved great-grandmas lied about being married and worked pregnant for her last year! She was a bit of a rebel!Most importantly, I love to hear the passion they had for education and children fifty, sixty years after they were in the classroom. They shared many wonderful photographs, knew every child’s name, and still remembered all the quirky things children do. Teaching is not a job, but a gift and a passion people have, and that, cannot be taught. This is my 20th year teaching, and I still love it to this day!