Education Roundup

I don't normally talk about schools I work at all that much or my students on here even though it's a huge part of my life. Mainly (and I've said this a million times before) it has to do with confidentiality issues. But it's been an incredible week, one of those times in my life that makes me totally sure I want to be a high school teacher. Everyone I have worked with this week has done a really good job of being responsible, thinking things through, staying on top of their work, as well as meeting my expectations. I feel like my crew has come a long way this year and just wanted to say that I think they're awesome.

Today I was back at a familiar elementary school that I've subbed at several times before. I really enjoy this particular school (in spite of the fact that I'm not looking to become an elementary ed teacher, but if I was this clearly would be a very good school to work at). It's such an inviting, cheerful, well-coordinated school, the teachers are all real friendly (they even talk to me and I am just a lowly sub), and the staff is real helpful and utterly approachable. The kids at this school are awesome, and I love coming and hanging out with them whenever I can. It's a fun break from my usual adolescent gigs, and I find the mix of demographics at work here kind of fascinating to observe. I hope that I end up in a place down the road that has this kind of sense of community, because this is what makes coming back here so much fun for me.

Thinking about the contrasts between the two schools I've been at this week...One is a high school in a low-income part of town. The other is an elementary school in a wealthy suburban area. The things they have in common are really amazing staff, and lots of ELLs in the student body. But in all other ways they are completely different. I enjoy them both, but for entirely different reasons.
Pretty soon I'm going to give all of this up and play fulltime student, so I just wanted to set some of this down for posterity. This has been a unique time in my life and I've enjoyed it thoroughly. Starting in April, everything will probably be rather different from here on out, and I'm going to miss even the things I currently groan about (anchor papers!). I will definitely miss Special Ed...I'll have to be sure to keep some SPED in my life, it's a lot of fun.