You don't know me!

Do you ever look around at your life and wonder if you can truly handle what is in front of you?

Often times I find myself in this situation when in the classroom. I look around at all the young faces in front of me and wonder if I can really take on the task of educating them. It is a tremendous task. I am taking on so much beyond teaching. Just a few months ago, I wrote this as my status on Facebook:

“Today I taught language arts, made 150 copies, gave out five Band-Aids, consoled three girls while they cried, hand-sharpened 36 CRCT pencils (and got a nasty blister from it), danced with students at lunch AND on the baseball field, played soccer in the hallway, and hugged approximately 80 seventh graders. Just another day in the life of a middle school teacher.”

Teaching is a busy life.

But I like it that way.

Two weeks ago, when I had officially accepted my position, I came bouncing into camp the next morning and announced my new job status to my eagerly-awaiting camp children. Immediately I heard such comments as, "Eighth grade? Really, Ms. Georgia Michelle? They're going to eat you alive! You're way too nice for eighth grade! Are you serious?" Indeed, I was serious. I was very happy with my choice. Before I could open my mouth, one of my campers, who just happened to have been one of my in-classroom students during a teaching placement my junior year, blurted out, "She will be just fine. Don't worry 'bout her! Y'all know Ms. Michelle not Ms. Herring. MS. HERRING will deal with eighth grade just fine. She can handle it!"

As funny as this little anecdote is, it raises a very important point. I am a different kind of person at camp versus at school, and this young man was wise enough to recognize that.

A good teacher teaches in the classroom while a great teacher teaches AND learns. I often say I learn so much more from the students with which I interact than they will ever learn from me. They teach me patience and understanding. They teach me important new words that a teacher of young adolescents needs to know. They teach me new dances, like the Wobble and the Cat Daddee, so I can continue to keep my lessons rigorous AND relevant.

They teach me that I can love hundreds of people unconditionally and with all my heart, and I certainly plan on doing so for as long as possible!

I'm a big girl!

This week, I signed the next year of my life away. I have accepted a position as an eighth grade language arts inclusion teacher for the 2011-2012 school year.

I expected the contract signing to be more of a spectacle. I guess I thought I was signing a contract for the NBA, complete with a press conference and flashing cameras. I would be given a hat with the school logo on it and would be interviewed.

Nope.

The human resources director printed my contract off the computer, handed it to me and went about her business until I said I was finished reading and I had signed the bottom. No fireworks, no flashing cameras. No cameras at all, really.

It all happened so fast. My appointment with her was at 10 am, and I was back at camp by 11 am. That morning I even woke up, did my hair and makeup, and put on a dress and heels. My camp students were astounded. I told them I was "Ms. Herring" in that outfit, and later I would return back to "Ms. Georgia Michelle."

I teared up as I walked out of the Board of Education office. This is a dream ten years in the making; I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in middle school. I am not just accepting a job as an eighth grade teacher; I'm fulfilling a dream.

Young adolescents are among my favorite people on the planet. They never cease to amaze me. They are insightful, inspiring, frustrating, and exhausting.

I cannot wait to start my journey and let the young minds teach me!