So, it's been a while . . .
It's been a while since I blogged, and I'm not really quite sure why I stopped. I realize that I do enjoy writing to nobody in particular, so I imagine I will re-visit this from time to time.
So I am now teaching at a charter school, which has its pros and cons (doesn't every school??) I am happy to be starting my 2nd year at this school, so things don't seem quite as foreign or shocking. The great thing is that my 8th grade colleagues and I have a similar solidarity as far as our expectations are concerned . . . we have high standards and refuse to back down when kids whine, complain, and pitch their royal fits.
Today we convened as a middle school in the gym to listen to the President's speech. Despite the controversy over this occasion, I do think his message is appropriate. However, I guess the realist in me thinks it is going to take more than a Presidential speech to keep kids in school ... but I agree with the general idea.
I am continually reminded that, while 8th graders are entirely capable of forming their own ideas, much of what they say and do is actually a reflection of what their families and parents believe and have passed on to them. Several kids returned to class after the speech and were quite smug, somehow annoyed by the encouraging and respectful admonitions they had just heard. "He didn't even write that speech," one girl pointed out. Yes, and your point is ...? Don't most Presidents have speechwriters on staff, and isn't this well-known?? Another teacher enlightened her that, yes, Obama has a speechwriter on staff, as compared to President Bush, who employed thirteen. (Not sure of the source of this info, but it humored me nonetheless.)
So, needless to say, we have our work cut out for us this year. For the most part, I do enjoy my job, although I think I often like the idea of my job more than anything. I love being around young, impressionable minds who are the future of my world, and I love the idea that I have the opportunity to invest in their lives for a short while. I only hope that I can encourage them to be the best that they possibly can be, and that I can help them buy into the idea that they are the only ones who can achieve thier potential. Because, at the end of the day, the President will do his job running this country, and I will do my job, trying to educate the future of this same country. Hopefully, neither one of us will end our careers disappointed.
So I am now teaching at a charter school, which has its pros and cons (doesn't every school??) I am happy to be starting my 2nd year at this school, so things don't seem quite as foreign or shocking. The great thing is that my 8th grade colleagues and I have a similar solidarity as far as our expectations are concerned . . . we have high standards and refuse to back down when kids whine, complain, and pitch their royal fits.
Today we convened as a middle school in the gym to listen to the President's speech. Despite the controversy over this occasion, I do think his message is appropriate. However, I guess the realist in me thinks it is going to take more than a Presidential speech to keep kids in school ... but I agree with the general idea.
I am continually reminded that, while 8th graders are entirely capable of forming their own ideas, much of what they say and do is actually a reflection of what their families and parents believe and have passed on to them. Several kids returned to class after the speech and were quite smug, somehow annoyed by the encouraging and respectful admonitions they had just heard. "He didn't even write that speech," one girl pointed out. Yes, and your point is ...? Don't most Presidents have speechwriters on staff, and isn't this well-known?? Another teacher enlightened her that, yes, Obama has a speechwriter on staff, as compared to President Bush, who employed thirteen. (Not sure of the source of this info, but it humored me nonetheless.)
So, needless to say, we have our work cut out for us this year. For the most part, I do enjoy my job, although I think I often like the idea of my job more than anything. I love being around young, impressionable minds who are the future of my world, and I love the idea that I have the opportunity to invest in their lives for a short while. I only hope that I can encourage them to be the best that they possibly can be, and that I can help them buy into the idea that they are the only ones who can achieve thier potential. Because, at the end of the day, the President will do his job running this country, and I will do my job, trying to educate the future of this same country. Hopefully, neither one of us will end our careers disappointed.
posted by Kat at
7:47 PM
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