Sup Teach?

I knew that teaching would be an emotional roller coaster, but I had no idea the twists and turns would be this frequent.

Monday: I had a good start to the week.

Tuesday: I approached break point #1.

I finished my last class of the day with a little bit of time to spare. So, I gave my students a break for 5 minutes while I slipped into my prep room to grab a demo. I tried to get back into my classroom only to find that someone blocked the door. Thankfully there are multiple points of entrance to the lab, so I got back in just fine. Upon my return instincts kept me from screaming at my class; instead I expressed my disappointment in their behavior. As I spoke to my students, my face grew hot and I could feel the tears forming. How I kept my composure while I spoke about being disrespected in my own classroom, I do not know. Surprisingly the student at fault confessed and we had a serious conversation after class. Hopefully we understand each other and that sort of behavior will not be repeated. [fingers crossed]

Wednesday: Nothing fabulous happened. Nothing terrible happened.

Thursday: I walked out of school with a huge smile.

Forty seniors went on a field trip for the entire day. What happened to the other roughly seventy upperclassmen? I don’t know, but I saw a total of twenty students that day… So, instead of administering my very first quiz I was forced to do some review.

While everyone was “diligently” working I took each student aside for a couple minutes to get to know him/her. Through those one-on-ones I learned a good deal about each of my student’s home life, interests, and thoughts on my class. My students have much more life experience at the tender ages of 16-18 than I have at 22. It is sobering to hear about their daily responsibilities, like caring for younger siblings and cooking dinner for the family. With each conversation I was reminded why I love to work with youth. They are so funny and they are capable of warming my heart with their comments.

Some notable quotes:
“I take care of my 3 little brothers. The youngest one thinks I’m his mom.”

“Miss, you live in Queens? You got a roommate?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Oh, good. Cause Queens is too far to be lonely.”

“I’m like ten times more comfortable coming to you because of this talk. You’re one of the first teachers to have a conversation like this with me.”

Friday: I approached break point #2.

My IB students are the “most motivated” members of the senior class. They also happen to be the only class that I feel least welcomed. I understand why these bright students are so skeptical of me; I am the fifth science teacher they have had since their freshman year. But, knowing why they are not warming up to me does not make it any easier to teach them.

During a transition from taking a quiz to working on practice problems, I could not get my students to settle down. My mentor teacher, the guidance counselors, and the dean all said that our students need to see the human side of their teachers. So, I stopped to express my feelings with them. Again, I do not know how I kept the tears of frustration from falling while I spoke to my class, but thank God I kept it together.

One of my IB students told me, “Give it another week, Miss. They’ll start to listen to you.”

Well…here I go again! We’ll see what tomorrow brings.