schools out

One of my biggest goals for my career is to be the teacher I would have wanted to have when I was in schools out You know, the cool teacher that you learned a lot from, had a great deal of respect for, and felt like understood you. schools out the educators constant plight to establish the perfect balance in the teacher/student relationship. Its difficult to develop an atmosphere of discipline, structure, and respect necessary class time while still allowing students to feel comfortable enough to just hang out and talk to schools out outside of class. I pride myself in the fact that I have created that balance. In fact, Im really good at it.

My classroom is one of the loudest places on campus. A good kind of loud. Come in before or after school, during snack time or during lunch, and you will probably hear drums banging, guitars strumming, clarinets squeaking, flutes tooting. You will hear voices talking, laughing, singing. You will see students gathered in groups, gossiping with friends, playing games, even (gasp) studying! Theres nothing you cant do in the music room. My most satisfying moments as a teacher are the times on Friday mornings when schools out just sit back and watch as students live their lives. They have found their niche. Outside the room, they might be lost souls, but here they belong. Its not my classroom; its their second home.

Students tell me their secrets. They tell me more than they tell their own friends because they know I have no reason to tell anyone. I stay updated on the on and off friendships, opinions of other teachers at the school, and best schools out all, the junior high romances. Ah, remember the days when you could be going out without actually going anywhere?

What never ceases to amaze me is that these kids really ask my advice. They even value it. Most amazing, however, are the words of wisdom that come out of my mouth when I answer them. Sometimes I feel like Dr. Phil or something! Where does it all come from? it is, once I tap into it, its like a never-ending well of knowledge.

Today I really impressed myself. schools out an eighth grader who is torn on where to go to high school. In one of our neighboring cities, there is a technology magnet school with a very good reputation. This school causes us a lot of problems, because each year we lose some of our very best students to it because they think they will get a better education there, and its simply not true. Perpetuating the myth is the fact that students have to pass a test to get into the school, making it seem even more prestigious. I have been nagging this student for months now, trying to persuade her to go to the high school in our district rather than the magnet school. Shes a talented clarinetist, and I dont want our high schools band (my husbands band) to her. Now this is a tough girl, so all this time shes been listening to my nagging, enduring it, seemingly unaffected.

Today she came to me after class, on the verge of tears. She confessed to me all pressure that she was feeling from her family to attend the magnet school. None of her friends are going to the school. The band at the school is not as good as high schools band. She listed countless reasons why she didnt want to go there. This girl thinks shes confused? She knows exactly what she wants, but is simply afraid of her family being disappointed in her if she doesnt schools out what she thinks they want her to do.

As much as I wanted to continue to urge the girl to go to our high school, I put my selfishness aside. I told her that I cant tell her what to do, that she needs to decide whats best for her. I told her that she cant let anyone make up her mind for her: not me, not her friends, not even her parents. Best of all, I told her, its not the school that makes youyou make yourself. If you want to be successful in life, you will be successful no matter schools out school you go to, because you are a smart girl and hard worker. She smiled.

Its times like this that remind me why I am a teacher. I may not make big bucks, but my students smile was worth a million dollars to me. Whatever my student decides to do, Ill know that I have helped her to discover whats already in her heart. I have never felt better about myself than when I know I have helped someone.