Unfortunately this post has to be quick. I should actually already be in bed getting a good amount of sleep so I can be prepared for tomorrow with my lovely seventh graders.
These last two days at the middle school have been absolutely amazing. I am seeing so much growth from some of my students and I am extremely proud of many of them. As I mention in the header of my blog, this is my first year as a teacher - with MY classroom, that is. It has been a tough year with some of the kids, but I have to say that no matter what, I love doing it. I have great students and I'm going to miss them when they move on to 8th grade. I always said that if I have an impact on even one student, I will have done my job. I can honestly say that I believe I've had that impact :-).
We are currently studying Mexico in my geography class and my kids are getting a kick out of hearing me attempt to speak Spanish. They had me in tears today - good tears - because I was laughing so hard. There is one vocabulary word that gets me every time and they were telling me that I said it wrong every time - I must have tried to pronounce this word at least ten times with my third period student and they kept saying "No, Ms. McAdoo - that isn't how you say it! You say it like this -". At one point I told them they were crazy and that I was saying it that way. They are a fantastic group of kids and even my poorly behaving kids make me smile.
On top of my fantastic students, I am also the advisor to our middle school debate team. The debate team is so much fun to coach. Today we worked on not attacking the person speaking, but fighting against the ideas the other group is trying to use. They are doing an amazing job and I'm really proud of them. We've got a couple of schools in our district that are planning on joining up and my kids are really excited. This group makes my Thursday afternoons even better.
Now, to the reason that I am posting this today. There has been a lot of talk in all of the states about how to pay teachers. There is truly a belief in this country that teachers are glorified babysitters. I just want to say thank you to those parents out there who understand some of the things that teachers go through. I also wanted to say that, even though the idea of being paid based on a test score is appalling, that I love teaching. I will be there for my students, possibly your children, every step of the year. I will do everything I can to help my students achieve the potential that they can. I will take whatever pay I get, because frankly, I did not go in to teaching for the money.
All that we teachers ask in return is that you keep up your end of the deal. Sit down with your child and make sure they "don't have homework." Help them study for their test. Sit down and read your own book while they read theirs. I can only be there for my students at school - I can't be at home making sure they study for their tests. If you are going to base my pay off of how your student performs on a test - please put the effort in to help them at home. Learning and Education does not stop once they walk out of my classroom and they need your help to continue it at home.
Like I said, though. I absolutely, 100%, without a doubt love what I do.
No comments:
Post a Comment