A reflection worth sharing.

Photo Source: Teacher Trap

Hello writers, dreamers, bloggers, and friends,

I haven’t shared anything in a while and I thought a good way to describe what I have been up to would be to share with you my last reflection I submitted after working with my 7th graders. Next week it is on to high school with a new batch of kids and new challenges to face. My God and Dr. Pepper help me through.

 

Week Eight

 

Originally I was going to talk about all of the classroom management styles that I have learned during my eight weeks at B*****t. I was going to regale you with another copied and pasted version of all the attributes and accomplishments that I have achieved as a student teacher. You know, the normal pat on the back that you normally hear from your other student teachers.

 

Stop me if this sounds familiar.

 

“I helped a kid after school improve their reading score.” , “I found a kid with their head down in the hallways and made them smile.” , “I was able to go my whole placement with only writing one referral.”, “I stopped bullying from happening in my classroom.” , “I helped a student that was undiagnosed be diagnosed with dyslexia.” , “I improved the reading score overall of all my SPED students using techniques that helped me as a kid.” , “I improved my communication skills.” , “The content of my lesson plans superseded the ones I built last semester.” , “I learned to stand my ground and be the support the kids in my class need by exhibiting classroom structure.” , “I learned how to grade papers.” ,

 

Although those are all important things to talk about, and they are things I am almost sure you will see being expanded upon in the future, that’s not what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about how sad I am to leave these kids at Barnett.

 

All my life I’ve never been an overly emotional or “sappy” person. I don’t cry at sad commercials, I don’t tear up at songs that hit me so deep I think that the Earth is shaking, and I don’t get attached to people I know I will never see again. However bold that might be to say, let me just tell you how much this experience has turned all of this upside down. I love the kids in my class as if they were my own. I think about things that they said in class, I look for things that they will appreciate in my lessons, and I brag about them all the time even when they make me want to pull my hair out. Even though I have had my fair share of tough moments and run-ins with my students that make poor choices, I know that I would take a bullet for each and every one of them.

 

When they succeed, I succeed. When they hurt, I hurt. When their life is falling apart, I’m there to catch them. The hardest thing I could have thought of doing this week is what at first I thought would be the easiest. I am going to miss them, all of them. I appreciate and love them for the kids they are, just as they are.

 

Recently, I watched a documentary on Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) and it struck a major chord in my philosophy as a teacher. He said, “Love them as they are. Let them know that they are enough.”  I hope that if they remember one thing about my time with them is that I love and accept them just the way they are because they are enough.