Here we go again - the start of another school year is upon us. Teachers in my district have already been working for a week, preparing ourselves and our classrooms for those little souls who will walk through our doors Tuesday morning. For the first time ever, I am really looking forward to what I think will be a really solid, productive, and positive year.
Of course, with every school year, change is inevitable. New teachers and leadership, initiatives and laws, students and situations, curriculum and materials. Sometimes it feels like education is a never ending revolving door, where things just come in and out so quickly; it is sometimes blinding. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but can become overwhelming when one just gets used to something new, just to have it change again in a couple months. I always thank the people in charge for the vote of confidence...if they didn't think we were amazing enough to keep changing gears, they wouldn't ask us to keep doing it!
I am particularly excited because, finally, after fours of teaching math intervention, we are being given an actual curriculum to use. No more looking through tons of resources for just the right thing, just to find it needs to be adapted anyway. I and my teammate have found this so time consuming that we get burnt out each year quite quickly. I like going into this year knowing exactly what is expected of me, and, most importantly, how to do it.
Now it's time for a little bit of my soapbox regarding my role as a teacher of children. There are two things I truly believe about children, and how I want to regard them.
First, middle schoolers are little kids! I know some of them have big attitudes and others have big bodies. They may have big problems and other big things in their lives. But they are still little kids. They like to think they know and can handle anything, but they're not quite as strong as they like to think. Children of this age lack experience and judgment that adults have; more importantly, the lack the emotional maturity required to be as independent as they like to act. This is not to say that they are stupid, because they surely are not. It's just a reminder to be gentle with my words and actions, and to remember to treat my students as I would want my own children to be treated in school.
Second, I actually detest the phrase "at risk." I understand it's intent as a way to identify children who may be in need of some extra attention in various areas, but who is to say that a child who doesn't have that label is in fact, not at risk? It is impossible for a teacher to tell exactly what goes on in a student's home as they grow accustomed to hiding it well. There is no way for me to know if a student is dealing with an absent parent, financial issues, drug or alcohol dependency, family issues, lack of food in the house, or a variety of other issues. More than anything else, this is the key - even well-behaved white children who do not receive free lunch or live in poverty can be just as at risk as the children or have been labeled as such. As a result, I prefer to try and teach each child as he or she is at risk. This is such a vulnerable age; anything can be a cause for crisis in an adolescent's mind.
So, with 3 days left to go, I'm putting on my official teacher hat, getting ready for that first day of school, and looking forward to a fantabulous year (yes, I am a professional word-maker-upper).
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