What I Learned from School (Week two)

In the second half of 2019, I made some big changes in my schooling life.

I moved from 7th grade ELA to 6th-grade social studies. This has mostly been a great change.
New room, new content, new team, new everything.
Teaching 6th grade is like teaching elementary school. They are little babies who don't know how to function as humans. Versus 7th graders who are just giant balls of emotion all the time. I also love history. That is my true passion and true calling. Though, teaching history to 6th graders mostly involves teaching them how to read and survive the day.
But, I love my team, I love my classroom, and I love history.

Here is a picture of my classroom. One side is all windows, so I mostly rely on natural lighting. I have so much more room than I did last year. And it's just good.

The other big change has been starting grad school. I am doing a curriculum and instruction program that is all online. I started in late July, and I am having a great time. Mostly. I don't enjoy working all day with eleven-year-olds and then coming home to work until I go to bed. But, I do enjoy learning and the theoretical approach to my practice. The grad program I am in is for people who are currently teaching, and it's been great. It's built around the idea that I am a real teacher who is having real experiences that can be reflected on. 

In both school and grad school, I am learning so much about how inequitable the school system is. How it is built to benefit the white and the wealthy. How programs put in place by the county are often not reflective of the needs of the students. How state testing is just bologna that ultimately means nothing. And how kids are kids who just need to run around for a bit and not be forced to sit in a chair and be still all day. 

School is great, grad school is great. It's all about learning. My learning and the kids learning. Learning together forever. Or, at least until June.