Teaching Middle School

Today was the first day that I had a student say it right to my face.  I know he’s probably not the first one to say it and he most likely will not be the last, but still, it’s discouraging to hear.

“I hate you”

That was the low point of the day.  In spite of this event, or maybe as a result of this event, I need to reflect on the reasons I love teaching.  So here they are: some of the good, fun, and completely unique to middle school things that I was able to do today.

1.       I get to say things like, “Billy, please stop sitting in the trashcan.”  Yeah, that’s right; one of my students was sitting IN the trashcan.  He was not forced into the trashcan by other bigger kids, he just saw the trashcan and thought, “Wow, I wonder if I can sit in there?”  Since he hasn’t hit his middle school growth spurt yet he was able to fit quite nicely.  I will admit it was humorous watching him try to get out of the trashcan; he looked a bit like a turtle that was flipped over on his shell.

2.       For the most part, sixth graders just love life.  They don’t really know how to contain all their excitement about life so it squishes out of them in silly songs, funny sounds and awkward dances.  Today, on the way back from lunch, one of my girls was skipping, singing and swinging her lunchbox like she was surrounded by a field of yellow flowers rather than 350 other 6^th grade students.  Of course she got a little carried away with the lunchbox swinging and she ended up hitting herself in the face.  Don’t worry, her nose only bled for a few minutes.

(Okay, so far I’ve told a story about a student saying they hate me, another student sitting in a trashcan, and a third student getting a bloody nose.  I would like to take this opportunity to say that despite what these stories may suggest, I do have control in my classroom.  It’s just that middle school is...middle school is…well, it’s middle school and you just never know what you are going to get.)

3.        Getting hugs from students is great.  Sure, it’s a little awkward because I normally go for the high five approach.  But sometimes middle school girls just need a hug and I’m glad to be there for them.

4.       I’m coaching girls basketball right now and I’m in the process of figuring out which guys my girls are talking to/dating.  We’ve made up some secret hand signals so that when I see them in the hallway I can find out which boy they are interested in without causing them all sorts of embarrassment.  I’m not actually that good with the signals, I keep forgetting which is which, but the whole process has made passing periods a lot more exciting.

This post didn’t really have anything to do with biking.  I guess I’ll tie it in by saying that this summer has a lot to live up to…I’m used to dealing with middle schooler. J