Oh, poor me....my blogs have been so negative and whiny. I had these high hopes for this upcoming school year, and each day I'm getting more and more disappointed. I think I've figured out part of my problem, though.
Here it goes: I miss my students from last year. There, I said it.
What's really strange is that this was not my very first group of kids. I've been teaching for five years, yet have never had a connection with so many students at one time. It was my first year teaching middle school, which may be why I'm missing them so much. I realized middle school was where I wanted to be. The kids just got me. I think people fail to realize that not only do the kids need to make some kind of connection with the teacher, but it also have to be felt the other way. I felt it with my sixth graders from last year, and I figured it out while on duty today in the cafeteria. I stopped at their tables to chat with them and see how their year was going so far. I felt the difference in my attitude. It's not that I don't like the kids that I have now, but I feel like I share a special connection with last year's group. I'm hoping each day that passes will help me become closer to the 90 young adults I'm working with because it is so important to me to have a relationship with them. Sometimes I'm the only relationship they have that's meaningful.
But, oh, how I miss my group from last year!~