Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know...
The last song I heard before I got out of the car at school this morning was none other than "Baby One More Time" by Miss (uh, sorry, Mrs.) Britney Spears. It is now in my head. Whee!
In other news, "FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST! Thank God Almighty..." Today is my last day of teaching my (un) favorite class. Ever. EVER! This year has been, as one friend put it, a baptism by fire into the teaching profession. Still, looking back I have to say I'm kind of proud of both myself and these kids.
The last thing this class did was read "Of Mice and Men." The book itself isn't long, but it isn't easy-especially if you're not a native English speaker. All the dialogue in the book, for those of you who haven't read it, is written with deep, uneducated, almost Southern American English. For kids who are struggling to grasp formal English, words like "ain't" and "wanna" are completely foreign. These kids got it. It was a huge struggle at first, but we had a side unit of sorts on American English dialects, which involved me standing up in front of the class and speaking like George W. Bush so they'd get the gist of what Lennie and George (uh, particularly Lennie, I'm guessing) might talk like. They got it. Not only that, they liked the book. Something about the themes of friendship and loss really got to some of them, and it was great. They did so well. I am extremely proud of them. I'm going to tell them that today. I'm so very glad that the year can end on a positive note with these kids. Individually, 99% of them are good kids. It's the group mentality that sometimes brings them (and me) down.
I feel like I could literally fly today. I have practically made it through my first year. To be honest, I might have sucked a bit (at some things more than others) but I made it. I think I did some good things, too. I like this teaching business. I really do. Crazy? Probably, but that's OK.
Next year should be fun. I'm not teaching the older kids next year, the ones I taught this year. I've put in a plea to teach lots of 7th grade and some of the other middle school-aged classes. Yes, I know...where is Erin and what have you done with her? It's weird. I love the little ones. (Not the REALLY little on
In other news, "FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST! Thank God Almighty..." Today is my last day of teaching my (un) favorite class. Ever. EVER! This year has been, as one friend put it, a baptism by fire into the teaching profession. Still, looking back I have to say I'm kind of proud of both myself and these kids.
The last thing this class did was read "Of Mice and Men." The book itself isn't long, but it isn't easy-especially if you're not a native English speaker. All the dialogue in the book, for those of you who haven't read it, is written with deep, uneducated, almost Southern American English. For kids who are struggling to grasp formal English, words like "ain't" and "wanna" are completely foreign. These kids got it. It was a huge struggle at first, but we had a side unit of sorts on American English dialects, which involved me standing up in front of the class and speaking like George W. Bush so they'd get the gist of what Lennie and George (uh, particularly Lennie, I'm guessing) might talk like. They got it. Not only that, they liked the book. Something about the themes of friendship and loss really got to some of them, and it was great. They did so well. I am extremely proud of them. I'm going to tell them that today. I'm so very glad that the year can end on a positive note with these kids. Individually, 99% of them are good kids. It's the group mentality that sometimes brings them (and me) down.
I feel like I could literally fly today. I have practically made it through my first year. To be honest, I might have sucked a bit (at some things more than others) but I made it. I think I did some good things, too. I like this teaching business. I really do. Crazy? Probably, but that's OK.
Next year should be fun. I'm not teaching the older kids next year, the ones I taught this year. I've put in a plea to teach lots of 7th grade and some of the other middle school-aged classes. Yes, I know...where is Erin and what have you done with her? It's weird. I love the little ones. (Not the REALLY little on
posted by Erin @ 8:52 PM
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