The Life of Bon: How I really feel about my students

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

How I really feel about my students

Sometimes I look around at the students who fill the seats in my classroom and I wonder how in the world it came to be that I care so much about them.  How it came to be that they filled this great place in my heart that I never even knew existed.




They are funny.  They are full of energy and life and a kind of frantic yearning to impress.  


Some of my seniors I will have had all three years of their high school career.  It's tough for me to not get weirdly emotional about these guys.  They have come so far, and gosh, they're smart.  When I passed back a senior's paper today with a bright red 92% on it I couldn't help but feel a pang in my heart.  A pang of... of... what?  Pride?  He started with me when he was a sophomore- barely piecing sentences together.  The essays weren't even coherent.  I gave him 50 out of 100 points and half of those were pity points.  And now, a rightfully earned 92%, a well developed essay with thesis statement and evidence and the whole nine yards.  


It's just... well... they're going to graduate and leave me and do big things in the world and I just hope they come back and visit me from time to time and maybe remember a little piece of what I taught them.


Oh gosh.  Is that what being a mother feels like?


I don't know what will happen in mine and Greg's future, but I know I won't be at this high school forever and I know this period in my life will end, and then I start feeling all sorts of nostalgic and sad. (Not the first time this has happened, mind you.)  Nostalgic for something that still exists.  Nostalgic for the crazy chemistry I have with my classes, nostalgic for the way we all take a moment to stop and laugh when someone says something funny, nostalgic even for that annoying kid who never brings a pencil to class.


Oh, why does it all have to end?


I didn't mean to get all philosophical on you.  Mainly I meant to tell you that I like my students and when I tell people that I teach high school and they say, "How do you deal with bratty teenagers all day?  I would hate it!" that I feel sad because really high schoolers are the same as teaching kindergarteners, they're just bigger.  But they still need love and attention and they still want you to be proud of them and they even still wipe their boogers on your desk.


That was all I really wanted to say.


For the life of me, I can't figure out an easy way to transition into this.  So I'm just going to go for it.  Laura is doing a little dance on my blog today and I am so excited to introduce you to her.  She is funny and so real.  I love bloggers who are real.  Who just lay it all out there and totally be themselves.  She apparently thinks I am some kind of grammar freak nazi, but I love her all the same, and I know you will too.  Go show her love and tell her I said hi.  And that I'm not correcting her grammar... or maybe I am...


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My mother always taught me when you meet someone for the first time you should always smile big and introduce yourself.   Then again my mother also taught me that you should always make sure your wear good underwear in case you end up in the Emergency Room.  I'm so sure they are going to care about my underwear as they try and save my life. So maybe it's best for me to pick and choose what "life lessons" of my mother's I keep.  None the less an introduction here does seem appropriate.

I'm Laura Mouse...no that's not my REAL name...I mean what kind of mean parents name their child that.  I blog over at Mice In The Kitchen. I'm fairly new to blogging, less then a year that is, so I beg of you to please be kind to me!!  I am mid-west born and raised but somehow over the years have ended up in Texas.  The winters are mild and great but I highly suggest a pool in your yard for the summers. I'm addicted to coffee and am completely okay with.  I love to cook and bake because I love to eat.  I hate nothing more then to hear my kids complain that they don't like what I made...of course I use that same old line..."there are starving children in other countries who would LOVE this food." 

When I started blogging I  panicked a little bit.  I wondered if I was the "grandma" of blogging.  I'm in my mid/upper 30's.  I started dating my honey back in high school 20 years ago and we will be married 16 year this summer.  We have four children ranging from ages 6 - 12.  Not to mention my children who are fuzzy and walk around on 4 legs and never ever EVER talk back. :)  With that in mind most of the blogs I started to follow along with started to make me feel old. Over the first few months I was amazed at how sweet everyone was and I was able to quickly settle my fears of not fitting in...one vicious game of dodge ball in 3rd grade can scar a girl!!   Of course after about 6 months I was feeling pretty darn cool...I mean I owned a little chunk of the internet world.  I was becoming tech savvy and knew how to copy and post a HTML.  YEAH ME!!  My blog theme is not a same thing different day sort of place.  I post all sorts of things about life, kids, things I did wrong (which tends to be the theme lately) and sometimes just deep thoughts..some silly some serious. 

When I started to read Life Of Bon I cracked up laughing.  The first time I commented on her blog I freaked out...let me explain why.  In case you have NEVER read her blog before (which I'm wondering how you found it today if that's you) she's a TEACHER....and even more so a WRITING TEACHER.  Several things worried me here.  First..my spelling, my grammar  oh and did I mention my writing teacher in school told me I was not a good writer   That my papers lacked feeling, direction and that grasshoppers were more creative then me?? I was certain I would get my comment returned to me bleeding with red pen marks all over it.  So I sat in a frozen panic while I read it over and over making sure that everything was the way it should be.  I used the right word at the right time and that it was properly composed and showed conviction.  Okay...maybe I over thought that comment.  :)  So I hit that cute little "follow" button and haven't looked back!

 I would love for you to come by my corner of the internet and check it out.  Stay a while and follow along if you see something that makes you smile.  I would love to get know you!! 


12 comments:

  1. i loved some of my high school teachers sooo much but i always thought that they would never remember me after i graduated. i wasn't anyone special, you know? i sent my favorite math teacher a wedding announcement a few years ago and was totally thinking that she wouldn't remember me and sort of felt like a fool after i sent it out. but then she sent me ALL of the dishes i registered for. and aside from it being a totally kick-a gift, it really made me so happy that she remembered me and liked me enough to actually get me a (kick-a) gift. i can pretty much assure you that your students will miss you just as much as you'll miss them. and that they'll want to come back and visit you but they'll probably worry that you won't remember them. so TELL them all of this. :)

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  2. I completely understand this! I teach middle school and I get the same response from other people. My students are so important to me, I feel silly sometimes. I love watching them grow, and when I hear about them in the high school, I feel so proud of all of them. Great post Bon!

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  3. I just wrote thank you notes to a handful of high school teachers who really impacted my life... I'm 11 years removed from HS.
    One of my teachers replied to me, saying the thank you touched him so much it brought tears to his eyes. THAT brought tears to my eyes.
    I sure hope someday down the line you'll receive a nice little thank you from some of your students. I'm certain you're impacting them in ways they can't even understand right now.

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  4. This just reminded me to finish stalking my 3rd grade teacher. Amazing that he is still at my old elementary school since I am now the age he was then - old. Hope he has a FB. Oh and hello Ms. Mouse!

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  5. I know exacly what you mean...my "babies" are my class of 2011 kids. The good news is that they still keep in touch with you and if you choose to, you can develop a different "friendship" that continues as teacher-student. I am close to a good amount of former students thru Facebook. My students (most) come from low-income families and don't get encouragement from home, so I continue to be that support for them and keep them on some kind of track... I miss them now

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  6. We had one teacher, our history teacher, who sent all the lower classmen out and kept the seniors for ten minutes on the last day. She gave us a wonderful speech, full of tears, about graduating and everything. I don't remember the words but I remember the emotions. I loved her for that!

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  7. You are so darn adorable and I would have loved to have you as my teacher. I still have 2 teachers that I remember because they made learning fun...and made me feel it was okay to make mistakes as long as I learned from them...something I am still doing today. :)

    And I swear I could just hug you for that tweet...I mean you have made my day, my week and my month!

    Laura@MiceInTheKitchen

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  8. I have a group of youth whom I have known since they were 12, and now they are juniors in high school. They talk to me about what colleges they're going to go visit, what they want to do with their lives... and as proud of them as I am (one or two even have said they want to go into youth ministry- like me! Just tug at my heartstrings!) there's still part of me that's so sad to see them go. At least we have one more year together!

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  9. I taught English in France for seven months, and I miss my students so much! I'm friends with a few of them on facebook (I waited only til my last three weeks of teaching to let this happened), and I enjoy seeing snippets of their lives. My favorite student and I still IM occasionally. I hope when I finally get to take the beau with me to France, I'll get to meet up with my favorite student again. :)

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  10. When a student was absent several days in a row and other students informed me she was taking a long lunch to have sex with her boyfriend. . . I was so defeated. And I was a little surprised at how affected I was, because you pour your heart and soul into teaching these kids (and this girl was in adult roles, my sex ed class) and you die a little when they make choices that will negatively affect their lives.

    All that to say, I know how you feel :)

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  11. I feel the same way with my jr. high students. I love watching them grow. I have only been teaching this year, but I've already seen so much progress with them all. Even those who act out, I love. I get to know them better and understand we they are acting out and that in turns helps them to learn more about themselves.
    http://www.morrellfairytale.blogspot.com

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  12. Ok lets start with high school none of my teachers left a lasting impression on my well not in a good way Mr Cox was a prick and I remember him for all the wrong reasons......lol

    Moving on Hello Laura nice to meet you I am now going over to pay you a visit and I can tell you this middle aged woman (I'm 50) things she is more a blogging grandma but only because I am a blogger and a nanna...........lol

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