wow

So this month has been craz-azy! I got a job. We got a new computer. Today, we are buying a car. Can life get any crazier?!

I have to say, though, that it's been crazy in a good way. I've made it through my first two weeks teaching and it's been simply amazing. To finally have my own classroom, full of what my prior employer referred to as "empty minds to fill," is just the most amazing thing I could have imagined.

Though I've got some tough kids in my class, I've really come to be attached to them...already. I see kids who have had really bad experiences in school, because they aren't quite up to par with where they should be. But what I really see is kids who need another chance. Another chance to shine, to get the answer right, to feel smart and safe and special. I see a classroom full of minds that, while not being empty, are ready to be filled with much more than they could imagine.

It's an interesting phenomenon to be teaching 5th grade. They are at the top of their school. Next year, they go on to that strange new world that is Jr. High, where things will be so different. They will go to different teachers for each subject. They will be called to a higher sense of responsibility. They won't get the second and third and fourth chances they are given in my class. They will go through social changes, family changes, and hormonal changes. Looking at each of them now, they are so unprepared for that world.

Hopefully in 9 months, though, they will face it with confidence, intelligence, and responsibility. Afterall, that's my job.