International Family Magazine - Diary of a Middle School Teacher

Dear Diary,

Today is day March 5, 2010. School gets out on June 9, 2010 in 94 days, give or take a day or two. That means there are 70 more teaching days in my first year as a middle school teacher. I hear it has been a typical first year of teaching. I received the books that I would be teaching a few days before the students walked into my classroom. The workbooks for my students arrived a few weeks after that.

The preparation and planning to take 85 students from below grade level or grade level to the 9th grade readiness was “trial by fire”. If I divided the hours I put in each week by my salary, a fast food manager would make more money than I do. The copy machines are always broken, or the line to get to them too long. I was lucky to get students in the computer lab 2x times a month for about 6 of the 9 months of the teaching year. I only made it out of the building for a one half-day field trip the entire school year. The list goes on…..

Having said all of that, I am in love. I am over the moon crazy about the kids. Don’t get me wrong, I only have each of my 85 teenagers for 69 minutes and 30 seconds a day. If I had them a second more, I might miss it. Luckily, it is just enough time to see it. What you are asking? What is “it” in all of this overworked, underpaid, chaotic place called school? Magic. Each of my students has the potential for magic. I know you are laughing at me. I know you are thinking, “That rookie, give her another year and she will be as cynical as the rest of us.” Maybe.

For today, I see M-A-G-I-C. Miracles-At-Giant-Intervals-Colliding in every one of my teenagers. Take Maggie for example. She has changed her career at least three times this year, but every time she explains what her plans are she is specific and, very excited. I don’t care if one day she is a pediatrician and, the next day a lawyer. Maggie is an exquisite planner and wherever she lands, it’s going to be perfect down to the last detail. She could always be a marketing executive, she makes you believe every word. Maggie could sell an Eskimo a bikini.

Then there is Henry. You can’t see Henry’s eyes because his funky haircut covers them. Sometimes his hair is natural-color, sometimes it is dyed something else. He wanted me to know he was a musician and not a nerdy student. So, I let him watch “Stomp” and the movie “Once” in the kiva and, he started writing streams of essays about becoming a rock star. Henry’s writing is as vibrant as his guitar playing. My husband and I went to see his garage band one night. He has great talent.

Sally likes to feel at home wherever she is. She brings more bags along with her than me, and that’s saying a lot. Sally was the one to bring in the second fish to keep my class pet fish company. They are male beta fish so they can’t be in the same bowl. But Sally thought they could watch each other from across the great divide and keep one another company. It doesn’t surprise me that Sally wants to save the world and become a missionary someday. Ramon lives with his Mom and remembers his Dad as not such a good guy. Ramon writes about becoming a really great man someday.
There are so many more stories of MAGIC – Miracles-At-Giant-Intervals-Colliding. I can’t believe after June, 9 this wonderful group of teenagers will go off into the world with their M-A-G-I-C and I may or may not ever see them again. What an honor to know them. I tease them that they will have to come visit me in my nursing home someday. I am 43 years old now and because that is ancient to them, they believe that my retirement is fast impending. They tease back that they will come visit and, bring cookies like the ones I kept in my desk all year. They seem to get very hungry after my torturous grammar lessons. Funny, so do I.

Today, we talked about prejudice as it related to a wonderful Sharon Draper novel we are reading, “Romiette and Julio”. I asked them to write about it as insecurity gone wild. They had great short essay answers. We moved from writing into discussion and reflection. I asked them to consider how often they told themselves a story about someone and found out how wrong they were. I used myself as an example on the first day of school. My students told me that wasn’t a good example because the first day I was kind, loud, smart and really annoying. I still am they said. Funny, how much I felt that was the equivalent of a giant teenage bear hug. In fact, I smiled really big at this. They smiled really big right back. So, I asked them for better examples. Teenagers have lots of great stories of their own if you just ask them and listen. Listening to their examples worked much better. It usually does. Teenagers. Everyday for 69 minutes and 30 seconds. Just enough to see it – Miracles-At-Giant-Intervals-Colliding.