Eighty posts. That's obscene. Let's celebrate!
Today I started teaching the ninth graders a new book, one of which required that we take a look at the last 100 years of life. You know, a little fun history exercise and holy crap did they love exploring the U.S.'s past. I gave them the floor and suddenly found myself covered in dry erase marker smudges while running from one end of the board (1890) to the other (1995), trying to keep up with their frantic screaming of whats important enough to belong.
"Titanic! The first Wright Brother's Flight! World War I but please don't ask me what year that was I just know there was one! OH AND ABBA!"
And seriously, if you just let ninth graders take over they totally will. I had kids volunteering to carry my shit and wipe down the board and collect my quizzes and their participation was just through the freaking roof. It was seriously the MOST fun day I've ever had teaching and as the bell rang and they filed out, wishing "Mrs. E" a great day, my mentor teacher came up to me and smiling, said, "That looked like you had a lot of fun."
WITHOUT EVEN THINKING (because hello, it's me) I shout back at her in a fit of uncontrolled bliss, "Dude, it TOTALLY was!"
She blinked for several seconds, much like if I had spit in her cornea and she wasn't sure how to react next and it was in those few seconds that any shred of respect she had gained for me in that class session had disappeared in the professional world when I called her 'dude'. Nonetheless she shook it off, regained her composure and muttered, "Yes, well...I suppose that's good."
And I don't even care. I'm so freaking high off such a great class. I had kids coming UP TO ME. They were all "Hey, Mrs. E I read that book you were talking about and do you think I left my sweater here yesterday and I heard you told my best friend I put his name on all my vocab cards" and it was just such a connecting kind of day. You know? When students look at you and no longer see the weirdo who wears pencils in her hair and considers that 'business appropriate'? I'm no longer lame! Scratch that...I'm probably still just as much of a loser in their eyes today that I was yesterday. But today, I felt like their teacher. Their fun, 'Hey I might not hate English' teacher. And it's great. I'm pretty sure it's exactly how Obama felt four weeks into staying at the White House when he was suddenly all, "Holy crap...I'M the PRESIDENT". You know he had that moment. He had to. Today was mine. Today was my Obama moment.
Excuse me, I have to go now. I'm very busy and important being a teacher. Plus, I just downloaded all kinds of Abba.
