Inspired by a silly group of kids

Today I went back and subbed in the classroom that I student-taught in last year.  The students are mostly the same because they looped up with their teacher to the next grade level.  It was an interesting day because I was subbing for my old mentor teacher who was teaching a lesson in front of 7 of her colleagues in the morning and then going to other classrooms for observations in the afternoon.  This meant that I got to watch her teach again.

This is a tough bunch of kids.  Rowdy, noisy, easily distracted, difficult to keep engaged and focused.  Mostly they just don't stop talking to each other.  What I saw today was quite amazing.  Last year they were individuals working in a classroom.  Today I saw a learning community.  My university supervisor and I talked a lot about how much they had grown by the end of last year in terms of how they related to one another and learned together and supported each other and the role I played in bringing about some of that.  But today I saw them so much further from even that point.  My mentor teacher has managed to figure out how to harness their talkative energy and use it to help them learn from each other.

In the morning I had a few moments with them before the observation lesson began so I asked them to share with me some of the things they've been learning about.  One student (I'll call him John) started to tell me about a poster that was on the wall that was filled with information about knights.  John was telling me about how becoming a knight was similar to becoming a self-manager (a high honor at the school) because each has important steps to earning that particular badge of honor.  He also quickly pointed out that they are different because you have to different things to become a knight than you do to become a self-manager.  What was so impressive about his sharing was that this was not even his project.  Other students in the class had read the books and created the materials that hung on the wall.  He had learned these things by listening to his classmates.

Anyway, it was just fun for me to see how much they've grown and it made me long for my own classroom that much more.  The school district I want to work in is hiring 42 new teachers next year and I'm desperately hoping to be one of those 42.  I guess only time will tell!  In the meantime I am trying to trust God and remember that His plan is perfect, whether that means I have a full-time or part-time job next year or I go back to subbing again.