Oh to be 13 again...

As I am sitting here watching my kids sign their yearbooks, I started thinking about the past school year. I can’t believe I have made it through three years of teaching! I’ve found that it does get easier. This year has been quite the year for me. I went from part time to full time mid way through the year. I then had to re-interview for my full time position so I could be put into an ongoing contract. I went from 65 students to 265 overnight. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. But I have loved it. They have pushed my buttons. They have made me laugh. Sometimes, they have made me cry. But most of all, they have helped me learn that my heart really does have room for all of them. Even the naughty ones.

Enough sappiness. Onto the highlights of the year…

* Teaching Creative Writing. What. A. Blast!

* Having a boy write every single one of his creative writing assignments about zombies. And another boy tie bacon into everything he wrote.

* Finding a tooth (a real, human molar) on the floor of my classroom.  Siiiiick.

* Having a student offer to set me up on a date. With her father.

* Finding a note on my desk from a student that said, “Call me maybe” followed by his phone number. Um. No. That is creepy.
* Getting plowed over by a student as he was running to lunch. We're talking a full on collision. Both feet off the ground. Me, flying through the air, landing on my side and sliding a good three feet before coming to a stop. It was epic. And incredibly painful. I'm sure I looked quite comical as I flew. The good news of all of this? While I was not able to save myself from injury, I did save my computer! My Mac is my baby. I wasn't about to let it get hurt.

* Having B8 try to bribe me every day to have class outside.

* Having three boys do their research paper on Justin Bieber.

* Having one student suspended for bringing (and using) a weapon to school, having to take one to the office for bullying, and having another run away on the way to the computer lab. All in one period. Thank you, A4 for being my “challenge” of the year.

* Reading things like, “Sometimes we don’t accept people different than us because we have heard rumors about them. Like that they are cannibals or something.”

* Or hearing a boy explain to a girl why Team Edward was way better than Team Jacob.

* Or  the one time when I heard a boy tell a girl, “You’re a wendigo.” To which she replied, “No, I’m not. But I am something similar.” (I still have no clue what a wendigo is… any ideas?)

* Aaaand, lastly, finding out  this week that there are rumors spreading through the students that I am engaged. Not sure where that one started.  :)

And that, my friends, is why I love my job. Never a dull moment.