One of My Favorites

Despite all of the challenges that come along with every _________________ middle school’s first period class, some of my favorite students came from that section.  At my middle school the first period is the designated holding section.  This week alone was 9 week testing and we held first period for at least 75% of the day – every day so far this week.  During picture day – we hold 1^st period all day.  Whenever the superintendent visits the school we’re in 1^st period…and stay there until he leaves.  As a first year or 15 year teacher an outside observer can see why this relationship with 23 students may be strained.  As a first year teacher I’d often resort to 4 hour (no lie) games of class-wide pig.  It’s possible this didn’t close the achievement gap like other activities could have but  it kept everyone sane when you’re in a classroom with the same 23 students for the entire day due to a 16 question district wide test.

            Not to get off track but as a second year teacher in my school I see some of the fruits of the teacher-student relationships built from those (what seemed like decades) days spent together in the classroom.  One of my many favorite students is who I will call ‘Darius’.  He is an huge Yankees fan and we would constantly trash talk each others favorite team – obviously as a native Philadelphian I love the Phillies.  Interestingly enough he was an incredibly hard worker but NEVER strung together a week where he earned Student of the Week award.  One or two days a week he wouldn’t be able to stop from calling out and walk out of my class with a double writing assignment. 

            Now that he isn’t in my class and has since graduated from the 7^th grade I miss seeing him each day in class.  He is certainly far from a teacher’s pet, however, he loved sports and was one of the few 7^th graders that didn’t resort to the classic Kobe-Lebron debates or whether Rondo was better than Derrick Rose.  Most 7^th grade sports fans are only concerned with the ‘flavor of the week’ in terms of sports topics but he was even more knowledgeable than myself on several sports topics.  Oddly enough Darrius takes his 7^th period with a teacher I share a back door with and often visits my room at the end of the day.  More times than not he says ‘your kids are quiet this year’.  I take that as a complement.  Thinking about students such as ‘Darrius’ makes me realize how incredible teaching is and rather than punching a time sheet or simply collecting a paycheck teachers pour into students and can really make a profound impact.