Today was one of those days that makes all the bad days worth it. At the end of the day yesterday, I went off on my class about how disrespectful and rude they've become. Today, it was like a new class.
They were focused and attentive all day. When we read a Langston Hughes poem (Let America be America Again), I have never had so many volunteers to read. As I asked them questions to help them interpret the poem, you could actually feel them thinking as hard as they could. When the poem was finished, they applauded. One student even told me it was inspiring.
In math, everyone understood the lesson. Because I had no behavior problems, I was able to spend time one-on-one with the kids who needed extra attention. When it was time for writing, everyone had already finished the paper that was due at the end of the period. In science we are working on brochures. The assignment is to pretend that a cell is an amusement park and the organelles are attractions, and try to sell it in a brochure. The kids are coming up with hilarious, creative, informative brochures. And there was no complaining about the assignment.
I have one student who has been failing all year. He's actually two years older than the rest of the class. He's really intelligent; he just doesn't like to do his work. Today, he caught up on all of his missing reading assignments during homework centers. I got to inform both his mom and the principal at the same time that he now has a 98% in reading. His mom had tears in her eyes as she thanked me for being such a good teacher to him. I told her it was all him, and that's mostly true, but it's still the best feeling a teacher can have.
Days like today are why I love teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else.
They were focused and attentive all day. When we read a Langston Hughes poem (Let America be America Again), I have never had so many volunteers to read. As I asked them questions to help them interpret the poem, you could actually feel them thinking as hard as they could. When the poem was finished, they applauded. One student even told me it was inspiring.
In math, everyone understood the lesson. Because I had no behavior problems, I was able to spend time one-on-one with the kids who needed extra attention. When it was time for writing, everyone had already finished the paper that was due at the end of the period. In science we are working on brochures. The assignment is to pretend that a cell is an amusement park and the organelles are attractions, and try to sell it in a brochure. The kids are coming up with hilarious, creative, informative brochures. And there was no complaining about the assignment.
I have one student who has been failing all year. He's actually two years older than the rest of the class. He's really intelligent; he just doesn't like to do his work. Today, he caught up on all of his missing reading assignments during homework centers. I got to inform both his mom and the principal at the same time that he now has a 98% in reading. His mom had tears in her eyes as she thanked me for being such a good teacher to him. I told her it was all him, and that's mostly true, but it's still the best feeling a teacher can have.
Days like today are why I love teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else.
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