So, the school year is more than halfway over. Hallelujah. I won't lie: it has been much harder than I thought it was going to be. The management has been the most difficult, as close to a third of my students can be considered "challenging." The other two-thirds of the class are delightful, but I feel like they're getting the shaft as far as education goes, since I've had to spend so much time on management. And grading failed math tests time after time really does wonders for my confidence.
We had a three day weekend, and I can't say I'm exactly chomping at the bit to go back to work tomorrow. So in an effort to remind myself of the good parts of teaching, allow me to share some of these tidbits:
-Each class has 45 minutes a week to spend in the computer lab. I usually have the students spend at least the first 20 minutes practicing their keyboarding skills. With the program our school uses, students need to type each exercise with 100% accuracy at 20 words per minute or faster before they can move on to the next one. Their speed is indicated by "'number' wpm." I'm not so sure my students know what wpm stands for, because at least three of my boys refer to it as "whomps." As in, "Whoa, I got 25 whomps!" As "whomps" is a word my siblings and I used to use quite frequently, back in the days when we watched Recess on Saturday morning cartoons, who am I to discourage its usage?
-A couple weeks ago I may have lectured my class on respect (a recurring theme, it seems), because they were being so rowdy and kept talking while I was teaching or when other students were contributing to the discussion. The next morning a cupcake mysteriously appeared on my desk, and no one fessed up to putting it there. Also, at recess a girl whipped out some yellow roses from her backpack and gave them to me. It was pretty adorable.
-Students can buy erasers and mechanical pencils and the like out of little vending machines at the front of the school. One girl spent over $30 on these items and promptly bestowed about ten pencils and pens upon me. What an honor!
-A girl related the following to me one day: "Yesterday I was happy because we got a new Yorkie! But today I'm sad because I forgot what he looks like."
-Another student told me "I want to be a teacher when I grow up, because you get all the good stuff at Valentine's Day and Christmas." Yes, be envious of the flowers and giant Hershey kisses and stuffed animals. A teacher needs to have some perks!
-We had pajama day on Friday. My students were pretty impressed with my Eeyore slippers. They may be close to a decade old and be reinforced with duct tape on the soles, but they're still going strong!
Okay, I'm feeling better about going to work again. Success!
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