I'm getting old...

I had an amazing/humbling moment last night.. I was on Facebook checking out my brother's page when I saw someone's name in his feed. I thought to myself "Self, that name is the same as the name of a little girl in the 1st grade classroom I helped in my senior year of high school.."

See, when I was in high school I thought I wanted to be a high-school English teacher. I LOVE literature, knew I wanted to teach, and truly thought it was the best fit for me. As a senior I signed up for a class called "School Aged Child". This class consisted of going to an elementary school for 2 periods a day 2 times a week. The other days were spent learning about child development and finding ways to implement what we had learned in the classroom. Great class!

After my first week in this 1st grade classroom I knew EXACTLY what my calling was. I wanted to be a teacher! I could feel it in every fiber of my being. Now, back to this little girl. She was amazing. Her family had just adopted her from another country that summer and she spoke zero English. Talk about a difficult situation! She was as cute as a button, I can still remember exactly what she looked like. She had a very difficult time adjusting to her new life (surprise), but we took to each other. I ended up taking the class independent study second semester and stayed with this class the entire year. I could not believe the strides this little girl made. By the end of the year she was fluently reading, writing, and speaking English. Wow!

Yes, that same girl is a grade younger than my brother, in the same school, and now Facebook friends. Small world, no?

Top Ten Reasons to be a teacher (article review) -Must have been written by a non-teacher!

Today I was intrigued by a little article called "The Top Ten Perks of a Teaching Career" I thought, "Hey, I wonder what they have to say about this profession that I so love!"

The article started off alright, I suppose, talking about benefits, a solid paycheck that you can count on, etc etc. It also talked about how if you love your job, you will be overall happier. I agree wholeheartedly! However, I know that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs there are, so hmm.. Anyway.

When I got to perk number 7, which read "Nix the Nanny".. Basically it said, "wow, you'll have such a perfectly synched schedule your kids will never have to use childcare!" Uhm, I'm not sure about the teachers you know, but the ones I know are COMPLETELY swamped most of the school year. Yes, the breaks and summer vacations are nice to be able to spend significant amounts of time with your children, but let's face it, there are many nights when teachers are not able to leave until much MUCH after the students leave.

The next reason says (paraphrasing) that if you are teaching students something, the knowledge is solidified, therefore you are almost an "expert". Well, that is all well and good, however I'm not sure you can qualify an unending knowledge of an insect life cycle or the difference between insects and arachnids as an incredible job perk..

Then of course the author had to bring up "realistic hours" (refer to my noise above about needing to stay at school constantly..)

"With students in school just six hours a day, teachers often spend much less time on the job than their corporate counterparts. With the 8-hour workday rapidly becoming the 10 to 12 hour day in other occupations, you'll find a teaching career leaves you with more time for family, friends and other interests."

Okay, all those teachers out there who have enough free time to pursue your interests and spend lots of time with friends and family, raise your hands!! I thought not. Moving on to my favorite point! (can you hear the sarcasm here?)

Of course, the #2 job perk, ALL THAT VACATION TIME!! Alright, Yes, we do have time off, and to the untrained eye (read non-teacher) it looks amazing, but I insist that in order for us to have time to refresh and continue doing the amazing job we do at loving and teaching our students, we NEED that time!

So, all in all.... probably wasn't a good idea reading that article as it just made me angry. Better luck next time I suppose!

Uhmm.. Gross!

There is a little boy in my class who is one of the cutest little guys I have ever seen.. He is short and chubby and so utterly charismatic. I just think of him like a teddy bear; I just want to squeeze him! However; Teddy bear is somewhat naughty. I LOVE naughty kids! I probably shouldn't, but I do!

So; yesterday I was in helping students correct their pre-tests and a little girl comes over to me and says "uhm, Mrs. Roelfs? Teddy is bothering me," (I'm crafting my perfect "You are in charge of your actions, just ignore him" speech) "He keeps putting his pencil in his pants and wiping it on me." (Insert sound of screeching breaks here, my brain screaming "WHAT?! EW!")

"Alright, thank you for telling me. Please sit back down." Big smile as she skips back to her chair. *sigh* Okay, time for a talk...

I lean down and whisper in his ear: "Teddy, I need to have a little talk with you, can you please come over to my desk?"

He nods and shuffles over

"Teddy, I'm a little concerned because someone told me that you were disrupting them by putting your pencil in your pants and touching them with it. Is this true?" (I feel so dirty)

"Uhm.." Shuffle shuffle "Well, it wasn't in my pants.. it was like here (gesturing to thigh area)."

"Do you think that is appropriate?"

Shakes Head

"There is actually a word that I'm thinking of that describes what you were doing. Can you think of that word?"

"Uhm, Abuse?" (He looks utterly terrified)

"Actually, I was thinking of harassment. (He looks like he's about to cry. He's a really sweet kid under that little bit of gross-ness) I don't want to hear about you doing that again, okay? (Nods) Please go apologize to your neighbors."

AWESOME.

Teacher Brain

For me there is nothing more fulfilling than doing something that I know I'm good at. I know I'm a good mommy and I know that I'm a good teacher (of course, there's always room for improvement)! Sometimes it seems to me that both of these things must be independent of each other; in order for me to be a good mommy I have to be home all day long, and in order to be a good teacher I need much more time than I think I have to devote to it.

Fortunately for me I have had a situation drop into my lap which will allow me to combine both aspects of my life; for reasons all their own, my mom has taken my 14 year old out of school to be home schooled. Now while I also have reservations about some home school programs and the necessity for students to interact with one another on a regular basis for numerous reasons, this is the best decision for her.

Until I start student teaching in August again I will be teaching Jess English and Algebra. Until Owen comes home I am sticking with English only because it is the area I am most familiar in. I have to say, I'm having a blast! It is difficult to get started because I am a very structured person and my mom and sister are not. They are perfectly fine with just doing things when they have a few minutes to squeeze it in, but I need to have a specified schedule. This has created a few problems, but it seems to be ironing out now.

We just finished reading Romeo and Juliet and I gave her a few assignments to figure out what we need to be working on. Before we started the play she was determined not to like it. I mean, why would you like something that old??? Once we got started she really got into it; at the end of the play she said "I had no idea I would like it that much!" Yaay! I also showed her the modern version of the play; the movie with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio - she loved it! It was really neat to be able to show her what you can do with a piece of writing. Perception is everything!

We began reading 1984 on Monday and so far it is going fantastic! There are a lot of vocabulary words and I am giving her a heavy reading load but she seems to be doing well with it so far. I am really enjoying figuring out how to question her so that I am not giving her answers and helping her to get "the big idea". I was really surprised how difficult this can be when you have one student who isn't "getting it". From my experience in the classroom usually there is at least one student who is making the connections that the rest of the class needs to be able to progress in their thought processes.

I suppose that's it for today! :)