Meadowbrook Middle School. My school.
So, until I get a job as a real life 8-12 Biology teacher I'm co-teaching/tutoring 8th grade math at this lovely inner city school. Granted, my degree is in Biology and I really despise all things math but I figure if I can't do 8th grade math then I have no business being a college graduate. However, I'm working with tatted up 8th graders who struggle with basic multiplication so it's not even like I'm working with difficult math in any sense of the word.
When I tell people that this is where I work, I seriously get the best reaction. You work THERE? Yes, yes I do. And so far I'm in love with it! These little hoodlums really are so lovable. On my second day of work my teacher says that she has some work to do in the office and asks me to teach 2 class periods. So I agree and pretend to be super confidant in my teaching-on-my-own skills over a lesson I looked at for about 3 minutes as the students file into the classroom. The key with these kiddos is to pretend to know what you are doing and have plenty of confidence because otherwise they will smell your fear and they will eat you alive...vulture-style. Luckily, it went well and they had no idea that I taught their lesson on the fly. I'm starting to get the hang of how to handle this whole inner city school thing and to be honest... I'm loving it. I truly think that I might prefer to teach in a school like this over a suburban high school. I really enjoy working with the kids that no one else wants. I'm sure there will be hard days ahead but in the meantime I'm pleased to say that I currently love this school.
The only complaint I have with working so closely to middle school students is their aversion to deodorant. Apparently no one has had the talk with them about the necessity of hygiene. Let's hope they work on that.....
the good news is you could probably get away with calling your students douche bags :) i'm sure you're the cutest teacher!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Way to go!!! Maybe you can drop some hygiene tips: "So I was thinking about 12 x 12 while I was showering this morning..."
ReplyDeleteHa. Please blog more! I miss you two entirely too much! It sounds like you've got this teaching thing on lock! Fake it to make it! Also, I have the hygiene talk with my 4th graders on a frequent basis, so it wouldn't be out of the realm to toss it in there. :) Love ya, cute girl!
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