Ringo and Paul

Ok….so it has been a LONG time since I have been blogging but I am back. The reason for absence is simply this: SCHOOL! It takes up a lot of time and there are more assignments than I actually have the brain capacity to complete. Since we last talked I have been spending time in a fifth grade classroom in Bellevue. It was a month filled with exciting opportunities and challenges. Thirty-one fifth graders in one class will provide some life changing moments. I know some of you are reading this and wondering how that can happen in one month, but trust me it has.



I found out a student wants desperately to become a doctor some day. That was a lofty goal so I asked him why and he looked at me with meaning and tears in his eyes and said, “To save my mother.” I nodded and kept walking with him. This student has a lot of obstacles to tackle to become a doctor, but looking at him when he said that to me…I believed he could do this. I truly believe in him. After we got back to the classroom I dismissed myself to the back side of the school where I cried for a good fifteen minutes, dried my eyes, and then returned to the classroom hoping no one would notice that I was gone and that my eyes were red. I realized that English Language Learners get extremely excited to hear a teacher speak their language, but they have learned that to get ahead in this world you MUST speak English. However, all English speaking is thrown out the window when a five on five soccer game is started out on the field during recess. With Spanish being yelled at the top of their lungs, they have a look of relief to be able to, not only run at top speed playing a game their families identify with, but to be able to yell in their native language to one another.



I found out that there are people who become your friends that you never really expected. My teaching partner across the hall is the cutest, sweetest, young lady on the planet. She is so different from me, yet I find in her a solace and a friendship that I was not expecting. When I saw her for the first time in a few weeks I ran to hug her. I missed seeing her. I missed talking to her and listening to her ideas, her life experiences, and what she hopes for. Did I mention she is newly married and the background picture on her laptop is from her wedding day? My wedding day was ten years back now and seeing that picture always reminds me of the day I pledged my heart and love to my husband.

I even found out that those little buggers that you spend most of your day wrangling back into their seats or asking a million questions to make sure they stay engaged in the classroom are the ones you do not LEARN to love, but that you JUST LOVE THEM. Not only that, but you MISS them. How did that happen? That was the question I was wondering two days after I left the classroom and found myself praying for those students during a quiet moment in the car.

Lastly, in my new placement I found that a man a little older than me and from England can have the best advice, the best life stories, and the best classroom management I have ever seen. Sure he carries a lunch box with Paul and Ringo on it, but that just makes him that much more cool! He is a Biology guy and I am a biology gal, but he can teach physics. If you are wondering, how the heck did that happen don’t feel bad. I was wondering the same thing, but in the past two days I finally figured out how positive and negative charges are identified with a neon light bulb and that he can use his cat as an example during a test review. Pretty cool!!!

See you next time in the blogosphere!