In one day of practicum in my new sixth grade classroom, I've learned so much about myself as an educator and about 6th graders who are in reality such children.
I tend to think of my students as little adults-- they're as big as me, so I can't think of them as "children" per se. Of course they're still kids... but I try to treat them like juveniles, young adults who are learning their place in the world, rather than children who need to be baby-sat.
Being in this sixth grade class has put my whole student body into perspective.
My eighth graders last semester had a level of maturity that was beginning to outweigh childhood. They were starting to delve into serious relationships and learn what it's like to cooperate with people in friendships and work environments; they know how to care for themselves in more than a superficial way, and they've become to take on a bit of intrinsic motivation with their educations. They know how to strategically stretch the truth and they're beginning to identify themselves as individuals.
The first thing I noticed in the sixth grade classroom on Tuesday was how bad they are at lying. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I believe there's a time and a place for a little bit of falsification, and the students I'd ideally like to teach (8th or 9th grade) generally know when that time is and why. The sixth graders don't know when. They don't know why, and they don't know how.
They're so goofy. They laugh at stupid jokes, use terrible vocabulary, and don't know how to write. My 8th graders last semester made me cry with their poetry; these sixth graders can't go into depth further than their own noses, and it's so tedious for me to try to listen to them like I would my older kids.
On the other hand, there are things about the child-like qualities of these kids that I can't get enough of.
First, I can tell these students are going to love me. My eighth graders were old enough that looking up to a teacher meant something different than admiration. Eighth graders were respectful in a professional way. This kids admire me like only children can-- I'm an adult to them, someone older and wiser who they can look up to and love.
Second, the sixth graders marvel at life like children do-- they stare out the window with longing for adventure rather than for getting home for the day. They read stories and imagine themselves in them rather than rolling their eyes at the thought of another novel. They have a bead in their eye that only children have.
Finally, these sixth graders are so energetic. They laugh. They smile. If they make fun of someone, it's not serious.
Discipline is not a problem. The "teacher look" works for these kids. Defiance is easily quashed.
They're babies.
And I'm not sure if that makes me love them or hate them.
What kind of teacher am I going to be?
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