Middle School ELA

I am loving the sub job I'm in right now.  I worked next door to the person who had basically the position I'm in now for eight years, and I always told her, "Better you than me." I saw all the long writing assignments she had to grade and I didn't know if I had enough mastery over grammar rules to teach English beyond fifth grade. But more than that, I didn't see myself as a middle school teacher. I had one sixth grade class for those eight years, and by the end of each school year I felt like they were topping out of my ability to connect with.

Fast forward three an a half years, and I feel very differently. Not about the long writing assignments to grade, but about everything else. I taught an eighth grade grammar lesson on gerunds as nouns, and had so much fun. I swear even some of the students were smiling as I kicked desks and chairs to remind them of the definition of a direct object. ("Mrs. Conrow kicked. Mrs. Conrow kicked the chair. What received the action?")

Maybe it's because I live with three teenagers, but I have had no problem connecting to these kids. One of the first days I was in this position, students were presenting newspaper articles to the class. There was an article about a bird that had died, and we were talking about how it seemed like it was supposed to be a "feel good" piece, except readers would be sad because the bird died. An eighth grader said, "They just wanted to take the place of Harambe." And I responded, "But that was so two years ago." Street cred instantly gained. There was an audible reaction around the classroom, gasps and giggles, and most everyone grinned as they recognized I knew at least a little something about their memes.

It's report card weekend in local Catholic schools. We are on a trimester system (think college quarters, only without summer quarter). I've only been in the position for a month, and even though my name won't appear on the report cards since I'm just a sub, it is my responsibility to finalize the report cards before they are printed. I was dreading this weekend, thinking I would be bogged down with too much work and not enough time. I spent Friday correcting work as quickly as possible as soon as it was turned in, and came home with only three sets of papers to score. Today I found myself ready to work on comments by mid-morning, and finished by early afternoon. It's a sunny Saturday, and I have free time! I say again, I am loving the job I'm in right now!

I have found myself already thinking of the students and classroom as "mine." Working in this building again, even though all of the classrooms are in different places and 80% of the staff is different, has really felt like a homecoming. Although I'm praying for a quick and full recovery for the teacher I'm subbing for, I know I will be sad when the job ends.