Middle School

I had my mind blown this afternoon. Not since I stepped off the plane in Chengdu, China nearly 10 years ago have I been this excited and committed to what I'm doing. I am well into my second month of teaching at a local middle school in south Columbus. I've gotten to know all of my students names, know their in-class personas, and am just beginning to gain their trust. I recently read a book about this age group and the things I read related directly to the students I interact with everyday. They're incredibly attached to their peer groups (not cliques just yet) but desperately try to assert their individuality. They "try on" different roles as their bodies and minds attempt to keep up with one another. One day they'll be giggly like a little boy, the next day, tough like a big high schooler. They wear all sorts of awful outfits as they attempt to decide who they are and how they dress. And most importantly they are growing. Growing like no other time in their lives except for infancy. Often times their minds just can't keep up with all the changes their bodies are going through and they almost go into a hibernation. In fact, I dare each and every one of you to recall a lesson a teacher taught to you in 7-8th grade. I'm going to bet that you can't. You probably remember something that hapenned at a school dance, you remember a bus ride where you learned about something you weren't supposed to know about, but your mind just wasn't ready to sit and remember books, theories, equations and worksheets. Some days a student will be on top of his/her game, acing quizzes, contributing to conversation, etc. The next they are floating off somewhere in adolescent development land and are impossible to reach. I was struck by this fact when grading vocab quizzes today. The same student who last week scribbled his name across the top of his quiz so haphazardly that I need to look at it probably three times, this week wrote his name, his class period and the date with expert penmanship. It hit home with me that the same student last week was in "stand by" mode while this week he was back and fully engaged.

All of this is great, but it is not what blew my mind. The school dance is what blew my mind. Like I said earlier, I've gotten to know these kids in class and they're are beginning to take to me. This week we administered the Ohio Achievement Tests (much like the proficiency tests most of us took). As a reward for the drudgery of these tests the students were rewarded with an afternoon dance in the cafeteria. As soon as I walked in the gym to chaperone I knew this was something that I had once experienced but was about to view in an entirely new light. Initially, everyone gravitated to their groups. And by groups I mean all shapes, sizes, interests, colors. I don't want to give names to each one because by the time most of these kids get to high school the groups will have changed as well as their members. The music started and kids started chasing each other, pushing, jumping. There was more energy in that gym than I've been apart of since packed in a crowded Chinese market. As all the action whirled around me it became very clear to me what I was a part of, I was in an atom. Just like from science class, if I had a bird's eye view of the gym I would see little clusters of protons and neutrons buzzing about nonstop. At the center of the gym stood the very coolest kids, the cheerleaders and their boyfriends. Other hopefuls would buzz in and out of the group and those without little groups to travel with stood by themselves or wandered in pairs. It was all pure energy and all very ordered in an incredibly erratic way.

I really enjoy these students and am excited that I'm figuring out little by little how to approach them, what is important in their lives, and how I can do my job the best I can. I'm going to end this now, go buy a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup from the Student Council table and watch the rest of the Middle School atom in action.