The hesitant post....

I am hesitant because I want to jump around like an idiot at how happy I am with my new job :)  And now that I've said that, I guarantee I'll have a terrible day tomorrow...

In the meantime, let me tell you about my fabulous students!  Firstly, they're coming in with a range of skills and interests, which is wonderful and exciting.  One of my second block students asked me on the first day, whilst writing a letter to me, asked how to spell "intuition."  Another one of my students, just today, wrote one of the best flash fiction stories I've seen come out of sixth grade-- OK maybe it wasn't that amazing but it astounded me.  The assignment?  Given a picture of a random person (from a magazine) write a story about their morning from their point of view.  He was given a picture of JonBenét Ramsey--he had no idea who this was...do you?

 You probably remember the heart-wrenching story of JonBenét's death, but having not known this history, he wrote an adorable story about a three-year-old who demanded of her mother to play dress-up-tea-party at 4:00 AM.  The poor, exhausted mother complied--obviously not yet trained to ignore toddler whining-- and ended up tricking her daughter into drinking warm milk, which ultimately put her back to sleep.  That was the very short synopsis of his excellently crafted flash fiction piece; the original work captured the voices of both the young, demanding princess and the exasperated mother so believably I'm surprised it wasn't based on real people.  It was such a sweet story, that is now what I'll think of when I see this little girl's face :)  I almost don't want to reveal the truth to him about her fate, as it would be almost too heartbreaking for an innocent sixth grader.  

Another story from today was from that same block hour.  I passed out the magazine pictures at random, and upon receiving the Duchess of Cambridge, Mrs. Kate Middleton, a boy in the back raised his hand. 

 Since most of the class had gotten to work, I walked over to him to answer his question.  
"So, I don't get it.  Is this you?"
I laughed, and then I looked at him and realized he was seriously asking.  "Oh, no--do you know who this is?  It's..." and due to my lack of knowledge of British royalty, I accidentally said, "It's...it's princess Kate!  You know?  She married Prince William?  Just had a baby?"  (For Americans:  she is actually the Duchess of Cambridge).
Anyway, I was beyond flattered that he thought I could have ever resembled Kate.  


What I'm reading

     I just cracked this open yesterday, after impulsively buying it at Barnes and Nobles.  Knowing nothing about it other than the title, I just knew I had to have it.  My intention at Barnes and Nobles was to ONLY buy a book if it was EXACTLY what I was looking for and to ABSOLUTELY NOT leave the store with anything else.   So of course I spent $30.00 on two books I bought based on the cover alone.  
     The book I was hunting for was a how-to manual for students to step-by-step peer-mediate problems.  For example, if they were quarreling because one student felt belittled by another student during a class discussion, I could send the two to a back table and they would, step-by-step, talk through their issue, guided by the script given in such a book.  The book would be written by educational psychologists with an endorsement from several master teachers around the globe, praising it's effectiveness when  adopted wholeheartedly into the classroom.
      Unfortunately, this book doesn't exist.  I've decided that perhaps I could write this book and make millions.  Until then, I'll do some background information on the why.  Why does it matter if we respect other students in the classroom?  Why do I need to have that skill for my adult life?  Why can't I just be a jerk to people whenever I feel like it?  Additionally, I have some whys to answer for myself; why are people jerks?  How do people see being mean as a more beneficial and productive manner of behaving than just being kind, considerate and tolerant?  Is there a benefit to being a jerk?  Is the general population unknowingly encouraging mean-spiritedness?  
     So far, this book has thoroughly defined what it means to be an asshole.  It's quite interesting.  It describes every characteristic about those from whom I try to steer clear.  I'm eager to turn the page, and unveil more about what we currently know about responses to asshole-ness.  However, at the same time, it's a bit grating to read at length anecdotes about miserable human beings.  Which is a good reason that I purchased the other book of which I'm reading:

    Aaahhh, you say.  You see the connection.  Just like the first book, Asshole* A Theory called out to me in the Barnes and Noble, I walked not ten paces from picking it up before the above book caught my attention as well.  Strange, too, because both books have relatively minimalist cover design and standard title fonts.  One book answers the question as to why are people assholes?  while this answers the question does it even matter if we're nice?  
     I think it does.  In a previous post, I mentioned Managing Your Classroom with Heart, which has fueled my passion to this year teach with heart and the upmost respect for my students in mind.   I can hear hoards of experienced teachers right now, booing my thoughts as if I'm the warrior at the center of the parthenon's coliseum.  I'm not saying I'm being lenient and letting things slide, I'm saying I'm dealing with things in a nice, respectful manner.  I do not call students out for misbehaving in a way that I would not appreciate being called out in a meeting.  I find it hilariously hypocritical when teachers demand silence during a lecture when teachers themselves are the worst culprits of talking whilst a presenter is talking!  I can't tell you how many teacher meetings I've been in (and I'm a...first and half? year teacher) and I couldn't concentrate because teachers next to me were having their own conversation.  I just imagine the presenter giving them a look and snarling, "Excuse me?  I know you're not having your own conversation right now..."  I try to visualize how grown professionals would respond.   I'm not saying this is all teachers, it's probably a fraction of a fraction.  I'm hoping that some teachers read my blog, so to help myself here, it's clearly none of you!!  :D 
     Back to the book, I've also just begun this.  After delving nose-first into the Asshole's book without being completely ready for how sad and slightly depressing it was, I used this to take a break.  However, both are very sociological-theory-heavy, and melded together in my mind as almost one book.  I promised myself to read at least 20 pages of each once I was done with this post, so in order to give you a better sense of my learnings, I must push on and continue reading.  And so, I leave you with a true-story, late-breaking (as in it happened today) sixth-grade joke I heard from a different teacher:  

"Mr. S, have you heard the phrase that you are what you eat?"
"Sure, what about it?"
"Well, I didn't eat a sexy beast today, yet look at me!"