Do you ever look around at your life and think "WOW! This is really happening!" I have these kinds of revelations often. Sometimes they are bad, like when I was rear-ended waiting to turn my senior year of high school. Sometimes these moments are good, like when I realized I was absolutely and completely in love with my soon-to-be husband five years ago.
This week at school I had one of those moments. Wednesday was the last day of school before final exams and the long-awaited Winter break. We had a vocabulary test. Yes, my co-teacher and I are THOSE kind of teachers; the kind who assign work every second of every day...the kind who expect nothing less than the absolute best effort from every student, however different they may be. For the record, we expect the very best from our co-workers also, but that's another entry.
Now, in no way am I implying that this happens all the time, but most students have risen to the occasion. I try very hard to steer clear of the teachers who breed negativity, especially when it's about students...children. I'm not going to lie, I do not like every one of my students. BUT I DO my best to love them...even when they are most unlovable. As an educator, it is nearly impossible not to claim every student in your class as your child, your baby...even though the students I teach are most certainly not babies. The students in our class range in age from 12 to 14 (I even have a couple 15 year olds). So far no one has protested to being called "my baby."
Wednesday, as the students were taking their test, I was reading...something I rarely get a chance to do. Yes, the paperwork was piling up on my desk and I probably should have been preparing for something, but I decided it was a unique opportunity to read. Side story: I've been enrolled in the Accelerated Reader program at school and my taking tests has kick started some students to read and the one who are already the top readers read even more. We don't count books read or points, but instead we count words. By the end of the year the goal of 1,000,000 words is supposed to be met by every student. At this point, I have read over 670,000 words. There is only one student who has a higher word count on my team. So I am reading two novels to catch up with him.
Anyway, I looked up from my reading to monitor the students. I smiled as I saw the children's furrowed brows deep in concentration. I giggled out loud as I saw the students who had finished buried deep in their books. I laughed even louder when I spied the boy who absolutely refuses to wear his new glasses with his face so close to the paper, he could count the fibers that held it together. That's the same student who would give ANYTHING for his friends to never find out he even has glasses, so I don't pester him about it.
As I looked around, I couldn't keep my smile from growing, because sitting before I saw all my children (haha) deep in thought, and genuinely concerned about the test. These are the same children who will give me the hardest time in class and refuse to stay focused. These young adolescents are the reason I am here. I don't need to change their lives, I just have to teach them and what they get out of it is their decision. But despite what they will say to me, they DO care.
I have now made it through my first semester as a REAL teacher. I am so amazed and proud of myself. And I still love it. Again, I don't like every day, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
