School Daze

Tuesday was my last day at T.H. Bell Junior High. I learned a lot during my short time there and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the kids at the school...they truly are a lot smarter than us big kids give them credit for. A lot of them are really, really hilarious, and I found myself having to force down laughter more than a few times after one of the kids would make some sort of obnoxious comment in the middle of an English lesson. I also had to get used to being called Ms. Merrill. Ha! I never got completely used to that during my 2 months there. Another funny thing is that I found myself silently choosing "favorites" out of the students in each class I observed. I didn't intend to do this, but it's easy to do when you have to teach a classroom full of 35+ seventh graders who couldn't care less about what you have to say the majority of the time. When you're faced with that and then notice that one kid who is actually paying attention and seems to be trying really hard to do well on assignments, it's easy to choose favorites. Anyway, one of my favorites was this ESL student, an awkward-looking Mexican kid with baggy jeans, shaggy hair and a toothy grin. He was always very quiet, polite, and worked hard to do well in class. On my last day at the school, this Mexican kid, Eric, came up to me after the class was dismissed to tell me "good luck." I thanked him as I was gathering my things up, getting ready to go and told him to keep on working hard in school. I was on my way out the door when Lisa, my mentor teacher said, "Thanks, Monica." Right after Lisa said that, this kid Eric turns to me again, with this surprised look on his face, eyes all lit up and says, "Your name is Monica?!" I said, "Yes." And then he tells me with a huge smile, "My mom's name is Monica." And then for some reason, I'm not sure why, I got the biggest lump in my throat and could feel the tears starting to well up. Luckily I didn't start crying in front of poor Eric on my way out the door. But gosh, that really got to me. I think I was just really tired. Anyway, I had a really great experience and can't wait until the day when I get to have my own classroom.

Here I am with my mentor teacher, Lisa. Yeah I do look a bit worn out...Teachers have to get up way too early for sure.