They are intensely creative. They are all smart in very different ways, most of them not fitting in the straight-jacketed traditional notion of smartness. Their brains run in directions that I, at times, fear to go. But I usually go with them, and always end up pleasantly surprised by their pleasant weirdness which makes them so differently smart.
They were exactly what I needed on a day like today, with the morning that I had. Let's just say it sucks when you come to the full realization of just how different your teaching philosophy is from the norm, and how others think what you're doing is wrong. Let's also say that I was seriously considering what else I could do with a teaching degree besides teach.
And then my 5th hour arrived.
We took a final progress check (assessment) today over our genetics unit. I asked them if they had any questions before we got started. One young man asked,
"Mrs. E, I have a very important question. On a scale from one to dragon, how would you rate this progress check?"
After thinking about that for a second, I told him I would rate it at a "Loch Ness Monster." The class felt this was a good thing, and happily started separating their desks, moving away from each other as we always do on progress check days. One student sat himself in front of one of my cabinets, which contains my model of the Earth/Sun/Moon system from my Earth Science teaching days. This is what he saw:
Really bad joke, I know, but I fell apart laughing at this. It was exactly what I needed--a good, cleansing laugh that brought tears to my eyes. (Because I do love a really bad joke. It's a science teacher thing, I guess.)
But it also reminded me of why I love this job. Because of the relationships I develop with students. And I shouldn't let anyone or anything get in the way of that.