Today I asked my choir students to freewrite about their concert last night. I gave them some ideas about what they could write (their own performance, the ensemble's performance, the music, the audience, etc), but I also told them that I wanted to know how they FEEL about the things they write about. Basically, I leave it open because that's what a freewrite is.
Anyway, I'm going to quote most of the freewrite of one of my students. He's a senior, and really enjoys music (he's in a band outside of school.) He's usually pretty serious and I can tell he enjoys the class, but sometimes I wonder if he feels like what we're doing/singing is dorky. He's such a great kid that I find myself wanting to know if he likes the class and approves of me, you know? Here's what he wrote:
I always kind of stress out but I felt it went well. I kind of think of my life as episodes in this TV series that I watch. Everything that I do is a separate show and has a separate time slot. Last night was another episode of "Choir." That's what I got out of the concert last night. It was that kind of goofy realization. I think it makes up for the fact that I don't watch any tv. Everything I belong to has people with attitudes, opinions, and views just like any characters from TV so I see life as a substitute for TV. If I wanted I could quit watching any of the "shows" I watch and replace them with other shows that are more imortant to me. (possibly leading to the "bum" show starring me living under any one of Portland's wonderful bridges, doing bum things, and eating bum food.) But how it all relates is that choir is an important show in my daily routine and if I stopped singing and learning about music I wouldn't be able to find good replacement "shows."
Aw. I love those kids! yesterday I had another one of my serious guys come up and ask to talk to me after class. He's a GREAT kid and I know that I'm his favorite teacher, so I was worried that something was wrong. He sat down, looked into my eyes and proceded to tell me how worried he was about some girl problems he was having. I had to keep myself from squealing and saying "You're so CUTE!" He said "you might not think this is important, but I'm having trouble..." and it made me all happy inside that he had come to talk to me about personal stuff. A BOY! Isn't that cute? I love teaching high school.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
What a great way of thinking about things!! I love that!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Can I just throw in here that when we got a new choir teacher and he started making us do written work, we were all pretty ticked off?
No, I'm kidding. (Okay, not about being ticked off, but about anything being wrong with it.) I'm glad your class is going well.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
quote: He sat down, looked into my eyes and proceded to tell me how worried he was about some girl problems he was having. I had to keep myself from squealing and saying "You're so CUTE!" He said "you might not think this is important, but I'm having trouble..." and it made me all happy inside that he had come to talk to me about personal stuff. A BOY! Isn't that cute? I love teaching high school.
Subtext: I'm available, teach'. Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Oh now I want to teach high school. The student interaction is more fun, at least a lot of the time. But fourth and fifth graders are really fun too.
I got pretty annoyed in high school when I found out our orchestra teacher was complying with the middle school rule of making them write a paper each six weeks. But it was more the principal's fault than anything else.
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Stormy don't even say that! I'm SURE that none of my students harbor crushes. I just come across as their buddy that tells them to shut up often enough to be their teacher.
breyer, if I wasn't teaching high school, I would have done 4th/5th classroom. I still think I would have fun with that.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
And I'm just tuning in now for another episode of "Hatrack." I love what that kid wrote!
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
It is always nice when the kids validate what most of us teachers consider our calling. Thanks for sharing that Narnia!
I have had moments like that lately since I am reading A Christmas Carol with my 7th graders. Unabridged Dickens is not easy for my at-risk 12 -year-olds so we are reading it out loud together, stopping often to disect the symbolism (and just decipher the language itself). I love it when they get the funny parts and laugh out loud or say oooooooh at little jokes Dickens adds. They got so mad at Scrooge in Stave One and now halfway through Stave Two, they are starting to feel sorry for him. They can't wait to read everyday and as they were leaving class today, I overheard them talking about how the book is so much better than they thought it would be. It thrills me to see them get excited about language. It just makes my day!
Posted by Eldrad (Member # 8578) on :
This might be a little off-topic, Narnia, but I was wondering if perhaps you could give me a little insight into the world of teaching. I live in West Virginia, and while I don't intend to teach as my primary career, I hope to teach after I put in my twenty years or so at whatever career I choose after I finish college in the next year or so. Anyway, the question: what's it like, really, to be a teacher? I hope to teach math, so it might work a little differently. Right now I tutor it at my university, and while I can't really empathize with the feeling to be got from a student who does really well, or in the example you posted, a student who might choose you as their confidante, but I do know the irritation and disappointment of students who expect help when they won't help themselves. Another question I had was if you had to work your way up to the high school level. It might work differently from state to state, and probably even county to county, but I've heard that this is the case in some areas. I'd like to teach higher math in high school, so obviously I'd prefer not to have to climb the teaching ladder; if it's necessary, though, I'll definitely do it.
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
I'm 17 and I run the game time at my church for elementary age kids. Not technically teaching, but I just have to share a story in here. There's this boy I "teach" (I call it teaching though its really just leading game time on Wednesday nights at my church). His name is Angelo. Picture Cupid. Thats what this kid looks like. Mischevious, but almost always irrationally happy. I guess I should say he's not chubby like cupid is portrayed, but the grin that always seems to be on his face is priceless. Anyways, so this past wednesday, as his class was filing out the door, he stayed behind for a bit. I said "Angelo, better catch up". He says "Josh. Tomorrow you wanna come over and show my dad what ya got?" Now this came out of nowhere. What he was referring to, only he knows. I say "Man, I really wish I could but I got school." (I should say I'm a full-time student.) He looked up at me with this quizzical expression and said "School?". "Yeah man, school" I said. His response: "Oh. Right. Teaching." and he runs out the door. I'll tell ya, it made my night.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Eldrad, email or IM me about this!
My email is annekateard AT bham DOT rr DOT com. AIM is TheRopeOfAllah.
I have recently been introduced to the thrill of teaching and it's so great! When the you see the lights turn on and the student suddenly understands and gets really excited and interested, that's just the greatest feeling ever. I know just what you mean, Narnia. It's awesome!
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Eldrad I can answer a few of your questions pretty quickly:
No, I didn't have to work my way up to high school. I had to make sure that my schooling and teacher education would certify me to teach high school (it has different requirements). It is also more difficult to get a job at a high school when you're a new teacher...they tend to like more experienced teachers for high school. My friends and I all made sure that we were certified for either another subject (to make us more marketable) or another grade level as well as being certified for high school.
However, as a math teacher, I highly doubt you would have to 'work your way' up anything. Math teachers are hot commodities, especially for advanced math.
As far as your other question, it's hard to say what it's like to be a teacher. It took me 5 years of college and time doing other things to realize that I wanted to do high school. I was terrified of that age group at first and not sure if I could do it. It wasn't until I actually got into it that I realized it was where I was supposed to be. Part of my job right now is teaching some Kindergarten music classes around the district (my high school gig isn't full time yet) and BOY! Am I glad I didn't end up teaching little kids like I'd originally thought. I guess I didn't know myself very well when I began college at the age of 18.
Now that I'm doing it, it's the most challenging 'out of my comfort zone' thing I've ever done. Ever. I find that this is the exhausting part of it, but I really do enjoy it so much. I think the more I teach, the more it will become part of my comfort zone. (This is my first year.)
The best way to get a taste of the job and what age group you'd like to teach is to go observe some different classes. Most teachers are really willing to let you come in and watch their classes.
May I ask why you're going to 'put in' 20 years on another career before you become a teacher? Is this first career something you really want to do? If you think teaching might be your thing, you could probably get certified in another year and skip the 20 years in another career. But I don't know your situation.
Hope this told you something. Talk to Tatiana too, I'm sure everyone feels differently about their own situations.
(Dr. Strangelove, that's such a cute story!)
Posted by Eldrad (Member # 8578) on :
The main reason I want to wait to become a teacher is so I can go into the military first, actually. It's quite a bit different, I know, but I've always wanted to do both, so I figured, hey, why not? Thanks a lot for your insight, too; it makes sense that there are some fields that are higher demand than others, but I hadn't really thought about that until you pointed it out to me. Tatiana, expect a message in the near future; the more to know, the better!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Narnia, sounds like you've found the place you're supposed to be. Wonderful feeling, ain't it? Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Yeah, it's great. It helps me through the rotten days.
(Where have you been Dag? I've missed seeing you around here. (((Dag))) )
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
((Narnia)) Took a little break, motivated partly by academic workload and partly by a bad vibe that floated around here for a while.
Now I'm procrastinating doing my Patent outline. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Eldrad, cool! I got your message tonight. I'm looking forward to talking to you. By the way, is your screen name from an episode of Dr. Who? "Edrad must live!"
Posted by Eldrad (Member # 8578) on :
Haha, not quite. My Hatrack name came from a character in the Warhammer 40k universe (it's a tabletop miniatures war simulation game, and man, is it fun). Good to know you got the message. Talk to you soon. Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
Jeez, there's a reason I can't stand you people. I'd just resigned myself to the fact I probably shouldn't choose teaching as a career, and now you guys screw it up for me. Again.
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I just come across as their buddy that tells them to shut up often enough to be their teacher.