The clock is ticking down on yet another school year. My 17th to be exact. Well, I guess if you really want to get technical about it, it's my 35th. I've been living on a September-June academic calendar since I started "Project Smile" at the age of 3. Elementary school...high school....college...teaching. In my world, the concepts of last year, this year, and next year have absolutely nothing to do with January 1st. For me, "this year" is over on Wednesday, June 20th and "next year" starts in September.
Every teacher is familiar with the envious quips that non-teachers start making at us at around this time. "You're so lucky," is probably the most familiar refrain heard by teachers 'round the world as we near our summer holidays. I like to remind people that they too can be as lucky as I am by simply enrolling in the Graduate College of Education at UMass Boston, completing the 36 credit graduate school program, student teaching for 6 months, compiling a massive teaching portfolio, and then dealing with the bureaucratic monolith commonly referred to as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. And all this can be theirs for a mere $25,000! Yes, that's right. Anybody can be as lucky as the teacher friends they so envy.
But seriously, folks. There is something to be said about this teaching thing. And it IS great work if you can get it and if you can do it. Every year at this time, I start to prematurely wax nostalgic for the outgoing 8th graders. They're still with me for another few days, but I'm already starting to miss them. I know people say middle school kids are oppositional, complicated, argumentative, confusing, and unpredictable. But the thing is....who the heck isn't? I'm pushing 40 and these things can just as easily be said about me!
The last few days of the year are the most hectic and the toughest to get through. This past week, for example, we had a Duck Tour field trip on Monday (sounds lovely, but try herding 65 kids on foot from our school to the departure point at the Museum of Science), a district-wide project presentation on Wednesday AND the middle school banquet on Wednesday night, the 9-5 Field trip to Canobie Lake park on Thursday, and a crop of surprise meetings on Friday that resulted in my having to fly solo with 80 kids for all but the last hour of the day. On Monday we've got the 7th grade graduation in the morning, 8th grade Cake Boss competition right after that, and 8th grade graduation in the evening. And on Tuesday...well that's when we say goodbye to our 8th graders. And there will be tears. Lots of them. And not all from the kids. My colleagues and I have our cluster of kids for two years. It's really difficult to say goodbye to them after all that time together.
Yesterday I took the kids out for a 7th v 8th grade kickball game. Usually the entire team of teachers goes out for this, but as I said, I was alone with the kids, so it was just me. One the way in to lunch, one of the kids said, "Thanks for taking us out. It was fun. I don't mean to complain, but it wasn't the same without all the teachers. You know, you and Mr. K (8th grade homeroom teachers) are supposed to play on our team and trash talk Mr. D. and Mrs. L (7th grade teachers) when they play on the 7th grade team." How sweet was she to make sure to start off by thanking me before voicing her "complaint" about how she regretted not having more time with her teachers at this activity which is a traditional end of year rite of passage? I assured her that wishing all of the teachers were there to enjoy the moment could hardly qualify as a complaint. If the worst thing a kids says to a teacher all day is, "Hey, I wish we had more time to spend with the teachers because you're really fun," the teacher in question is having a great day.
And more than a great day, it's been a great year. I guess when it really comes down to it, I am lucky.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The clock is ticking down on yet another school year. My 17th to be exact. Well, I guess if you really want to get technical about it, it's my 35th. I've been living on a September-June academic calendar since I started "Project Smile" at the age of 3. Elementary school...high school....college...teaching. In my world, the concepts of last year, this year, and next year have absolutely nothing to do with January 1st. For me, "this year" is over on Wednesday, June 20th and "next year" starts in September.
Every teacher is familiar with the envious quips that non-teachers start making at us at around this time. "You're so lucky," is probably the most familiar refrain heard by teachers 'round the world as we near our summer holidays. I like to remind people that they too can be as lucky as I am by simply enrolling in the Graduate College of Education at UMass Boston, completing the 36 credit graduate school program, student teaching for 6 months, compiling a massive teaching portfolio, and then dealing with the bureaucratic monolith commonly referred to as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. And all this can be theirs for a mere $25,000! Yes, that's right. Anybody can be as lucky as the teacher friends they so envy.
But seriously, folks. There is something to be said about this teaching thing. And it IS great work if you can get it and if you can do it. Every year at this time, I start to prematurely wax nostalgic for the outgoing 8th graders. They're still with me for another few days, but I'm already starting to miss them. I know people say middle school kids are oppositional, complicated, argumentative, confusing, and unpredictable. But the thing is....who the heck isn't? I'm pushing 40 and these things can just as easily be said about me!
The last few days of the year are the most hectic and the toughest to get through. This past week, for example, we had a Duck Tour field trip on Monday (sounds lovely, but try herding 65 kids on foot from our school to the departure point at the Museum of Science), a district-wide project presentation on Wednesday AND the middle school banquet on Wednesday night, the 9-5 Field trip to Canobie Lake park on Thursday, and a crop of surprise meetings on Friday that resulted in my having to fly solo with 80 kids for all but the last hour of the day. On Monday we've got the 7th grade graduation in the morning, 8th grade Cake Boss competition right after that, and 8th grade graduation in the evening. And on Tuesday...well that's when we say goodbye to our 8th graders. And there will be tears. Lots of them. And not all from the kids. My colleagues and I have our cluster of kids for two years. It's really difficult to say goodbye to them after all that time together.
Yesterday I took the kids out for a 7th v 8th grade kickball game. Usually the entire team of teachers goes out for this, but as I said, I was alone with the kids, so it was just me. One the way in to lunch, one of the kids said, "Thanks for taking us out. It was fun. I don't mean to complain, but it wasn't the same without all the teachers. You know, you and Mr. K (8th grade homeroom teachers) are supposed to play on our team and trash talk Mr. D. and Mrs. L (7th grade teachers) when they play on the 7th grade team." How sweet was she to make sure to start off by thanking me before voicing her "complaint" about how she regretted not having more time with her teachers at this activity which is a traditional end of year rite of passage? I assured her that wishing all of the teachers were there to enjoy the moment could hardly qualify as a complaint. If the worst thing a kids says to a teacher all day is, "Hey, I wish we had more time to spend with the teachers because you're really fun," the teacher in question is having a great day.
And more than a great day, it's been a great year. I guess when it really comes down to it, I am lucky.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)