The good, the bad, and the ugly

I will first admit that during the last year of college I often debated whether or not teaching was the correct career choice. I never realized how much work went into teaching. You are not just in charge of making sure 120 students behave during the day, pay attention, and pass all the state tests.  You also have to create "creative" lesson plans that match all the state standards for each class you teach, create another set of assignments for students who need modifications, and finally grade all the assignment, record the scores and put them into the computer. And then you get to start all over again. The truth is, it was not the show up and hang out with teenagers job I thought it was, but it is very rewarding like I though it would be. Nonetheless like every job, there is good, there is bad, and there is ugly.

The good: I Have some marvelous students who at the end of a long day make it well worth it. It is the little comments from the students like " Oh I finally get it" or " I have never liked English until now". Or the comments from parents at parent teacher conference "My daughter comes home from school so happy and she tells me it is because of your class" or "I hear you are the funniest teacher here" or the simple "Thank you for being such a great teacher". Or my favorite comment that came in a little note stuck to my computer after class that said To: Mrs. Berg  and inside read "How are you doing? How are you feeling? You are an awesome teacher, and I am so excited to have you all three tri's. I hope you will be my best friend that is a teacher. You are awesome. Love..." These simple comments make it all worth it. And yes I will be your best friend that is a teacher.

The bad: First of all I had this crazy idea that all students somewhat cared about getting good grades. FALSE. Some do not care at all and just getting them to pick up a pencil and write their name on the paper is a huge accomplishment. Along with that 7th graders tend to blurt out things. They are not afraid to share their opinion about how what we are doing is "so stupid" or "pointless". They also tend to blurt things out about their life that I don't think their families would like them too. I sometimes feel like I know a little to much about their home life and sometimes it breaks my heart to learn what these students have to go through. I was very blessed as a child to have a secure home to back me up. Also 7th graders love to talk and talk and talk some more. Sometimes the only way I can get them to calm down is to allow story time where they can tell me all about their day. And the "rock that was shaped like a heart" that they saw on there way to school. OH COOL I really wanted to know about that rock. I guess this could go under the good category but there is never a dull moment and they definitely keep me entertained.

The ugly: "Mrs. Berg, you have a double chin". Thank you for pointing out the fact that my working out goal is not being accomplished. Turns out however they were talking about the dimple in my chin, that I inherited from my father. :)
"Mrs. Berg here is the fly I just killed and I am going to continue putting in your face, even though you have told me throw it away 10 times and to sit down". It was so fun calling the mother after that and explaining that your student would not keep a fly out of my face during the spelling test today.

Don't get me wrong,  I love my job and the students and often come home tired but with a smile on my face. And surprisingly I have not been brought to tears yet, like I was warned would happen my first year. So I guess even though I really doubted this career in the end it was the correct choice for me.