For the first seven weeks of this semester (I know there’s still a week left, but I wanted to get this out before it was really over), I have had the absolute privilege of working with 8th graders at a local middle school for my student teaching experience.
When I close my eyes and picture my life in three years, five years, ten years, etc; I am in a middle school teaching some of the most impactful novels I had read in middle school to my own set of students. I always have on a new, wacky-colored dress that is so, totally me.
Middle school has always been my favorite age to teach, and this placement has solidified that in every way.
My kids are eager to learn. Sure, some of them may not like Thursday Thoughts (part of their weekly bellringer), and some of them may not like every single text we read, but that’s okay.
These kids have grown tremendously, even just in the time that I have known them. They put so much of themselves into their work and attitude in class, and it’s truly inspiring. These students love to read, be involved and be themselves. That’s all I could really ever ask for out of my students.
I think one of my favorite things about the group of students that I currently have is how funny they are. My students are so out-of-pocket funny that I had to start a quote book with all of the things they say so I can remember just how crazy funny some of these things are. From “WHAT IS A WICKER BASKET?” to “Miss Mac, your dress looks like the socks they give you at the hospital!”, these kids never fail to make me laugh out loud.
It is a very distinct shift in my college-age reality to wake up every morning at 6 a.m. when many of my friends and even two of my roommates are still fast asleep in their beds. Some mornings when I’ve made it to school and still feel so sleepy, a slight twinge of jealousy does cross my mind.
That is until all the “Hi Miss Mac!”s of my homeroom students come filing through the door.
When I was their age, I was voted “Most likely to become a teacher”. Now, these students have made it clear that this truly was what I was meant to do.
Thank you to my fantastic cooperating teacher. I literally couldn’t have done it without your guidance, support and funny jokes for over half a year.
Lastly and most importantly, thank you to my students. You are all going to accomplish incredible things in anything and everything you do. Keep growing, keep changing but never lose that spark of your true self that I see every day.
From,
Miss Mac :)