As much as I had made up my mind about only wanting to teach younger grades, it's days like today that make me realize that middle school is such a fun place and how much I would be missing out on if I were anywhere else. Today we walked to the rec center and had a beautiful meal as a Somerset team. My mentor had been telling how great this meal was, but I had no idea just how amazing it really was. For the past few weeks I had seen teachers and students on the team making placemats and candle holders and it all looked great but it looked nothing like it did today. The tables were covered with nice table cloths, the meal was candlelit, and the food was fantastic. For some students, this may have been the only Thanksgiving meal they will have and for others it was a perfect opportunity to provide some praise and reinforce the idea of community and team work. Especially at an age where they can be so mean to one another, I think that this was a wonderful way to pull students together and remind them that they are all in it together.
I had such a great time. I had a group of students asking me to switch seats with another teacher. It was nice to know that I had made that connection with some of my students and that they wanted to hang out. It was the most amusing meal i have had in a long time as the students opened up and shared with me the world through their eyes. One of the things that I missed about my second graders, that I felt didn't exist at the middle school level, was that my second graders couldn't wait until snack time to share stories about their life. When I got to middle school it was tough not having that connection with my students. I was worried that because they didn't share anything with me that meant they didn't like me. My mentor teacher pointed out that with middle schoolers, if they don't share everything it doesn't mean they don't like you, if they didn't like you they will definitely let you know in other ways. I had never thought of it like that, but I still saw how they were with him and a few others. So today I felt like some of my students let me in. I think I am starting to feel good about middle school. I think part of me being able to start to enjoy 7th grade comes from the reassurance last week from my mentor and my field supervisor that I handle middle school. Now it seems less intimidating and I can begin to see the fun in it.
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