Someone was asking me the other day if all the teachers at my school have stories like mine. The truth is, probably not. It seems like the other freshmen English teachers don't have the stories I do. Which begs the question: Do I foster an environment where crazy things get said? Perhaps at the beginning of the year when the first crazy thing is said and I just look at them and smile I am encouraging the continuance of the insanity. Perhaps the other teachers are better at keeping a straight face and correcting their students without added sarcasm. I am not. My classroom is generally orderly, the students know what they should be working on and, for the most part, are respectful of me, the classroom and the other students. On my last evaluation I was told that I have a special way of joking with the students, but still showing them that I am there to teach and I mean business. It was one of the best compliments I could get. Maybe my joking, relaxed attitude allows them to feel comfortable enough to be themselves, and since they are 15, being themselves means saying crazy stuff. I don't really know, but I do know that I love it. I wouldn't change a thing.
I love hearing students talk about Hot Cheetos being the best Valentine's Day gift, or how they want to be a pony so they can fly, or how the Mexican version of the zoo is a front yard full of chickens (all conversations from today). I love teaching the freshmen. I love how they think it's funny when I do the running man (even though they think I'm crazy). I love planning silly dances that involve helium tanks and streamers for them. I love watching them learn something.
Perhaps it's the extra dose of patience the Lord blessed me with (but for the record Lord, I have enough, no need for more!) that makes it possible to smile at the end of every day. I've discovered that if I put my heart into teaching I will feel just about every emotion every day. It's a regular roller coaster of happiness, joy, sadness, and love.
Sometimes I think about what it would be like to teach in an upper-class, or heck even middle-class, neighborhood. To have students who don't wonder where their next meal is coming from. It got cold in Phoenix a few weeks ago (like in the 30's! Every one was freaking out!) and students came to school wrapped in blankets because they don't have coats. But these are the kids who face their trails with a smile. The jock talked about how chicks dig his blankie because he is ready to cuddle at any time and my 3rd period had an entire discussion about how one girl in my class was Dora the Explorers twin (she was on the blanket). I'd like to see an upper-class kid wear a Dora the Explorer blanket with pride. I'm exactly where I want to be.
On another note, Valentine's Day is insane at school. Soooo much sugar. I had two kids running sprints in the back of my classroom 7th period because they couldn't sit still. Several others stood the whole time. Sometimes you just can't fight it and you have to adapt. But no worries, I was making sure they were listening, they answered my questions perfectly. Maybe there is something to this running thing.
