as you may already know, i love my job. it is different every day, every week, every year, and that is what makes it exciting. it is also nice to be taught things yourself amidst all the teaching you do. and, since i enjoy making lists (i should really work for letterman), here is proof that even teachers who pretend to know everything even though they probably learned it that morning, can learn a thing or two as well.
- if you have a boyfriend, refer to him as "whatshisface", because when the curious middle school girls finally learn whatshisface's name, its the greatest victory, and hilarity ensues.
- if a student looks at you at opportune times, it probably means they are doing something wrong. when you tell the student "i knoooow when you are doing something you aren't supposed to be because you are looking back at me", and they STILL do it, ("i am just LOOKING AROUND, MS ADELMAN!") shows how awesome middle school boys are sometimes.
- if you put on a movie soundtrack that has particularly upbeat music and let 8th grade girls dace to it for a while, they may begin a scream-off, where they tell every embarrassing thing their parents and older (former student) siblings have ever done and try to top one another as their teacher howls with laughter.
- if you ask a student her opinion about something simple, and her reaction is waaaay over the top, don't let her live it down. (RITZ CRACKERS?! I LOVE THOSE!)
- students can make you cry with simple, human gestures. for example, i have been praying during morning prayer for my brother in law as he goes through chemo. i don't talk about it, i just pray and leave it at that. at the end of a student letter at the end of the year: "i know your brother in law is in chemo, and i know you don't like to talk about it, but i will keep your family in my prayers." the simplest things, really.
- sometimes you learn things about your students when it is a little too late. one student was totally bombing everything, and it was because she was utterly miserable without a regular group to hang out with. another felt like he will always be in his brother's shadow. i learn both of these the last weeks of school. it sucks.
- even though you may think things will go over their heads, sometimes they won't, leaving you redfaced. for example, ali brown made me a lovely ceramic container that is painted like a blueberry muffin. i now call it the paperclip muffin because that is where i store my paperclips. the kids were using it, and one of them dropped it, spewing paperclips all over the floor. my reaction? "you dropped my muffin!?" .... thank you, snl, for teaching my kids the other usage for the word "muffin".
- even though 8th graders may seem to be uber excited to get out of the school they have been to, for some of them, eleven years, once the reality of the situation strikes them, they get really sad. i saw half my kids about three times over the week after they graduated. i learned they hide their sadness very well.
the feeling is mutual. :)
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