Friday, April 9, 2010

What About Me?

I don't remember every student I've taught, although I'm sure early on in my career I was certain I would. Much like my memories of my former teachers, the memories I have of former students are framed around specific events.

I remember Kevin, from my first year of teaching, because he is the only student who has every thrown up on me. In his defense, he did tell me just five seconds beforehand that he wasn't feeling well. I have a few other student memories from that first year, in part because it was my first year but mostly because they were just about the toughest group of kids I've worked with.

There are girls I remember because I could see much of myself at the same age in them. Sometimes the things kids say and do are what sears them into my brain. Olivia is one of those gals. One of my icebreakers was to let the kids ask me any question they wanted. I agreed to give an answer. Olivia was clearly an extrovert. Her question? She wanted to know if I was wearing pink underwear. My answer? Not today.

Boys are memorable for not only things like vomiting. Alex decided to take part in a class talent show and entertained us all with his birdcalls. His mother told me later that he came up with his plan over breakfast that morning. William just about exhausted me with his erratic behavior that ran the gamut of non-stop chatter to tears and fits of frustration.

It would be interesting to try and write down the names of every student I've taught. Could I come up with 50%? Yes, I could do better than that. One thing's for sure, I'd never remember them all.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, you brought back memories of my first year teaching back in the U.S. A teacher quit after three weeks, and they then hired me. There was no special ed in those days, and I had one class filled with kids who needed extra help the school couldn't give. One ate bugs he captured from outside the window, another was nineteen and quit my class to join the marines, one girl used to sit and write foul language on her jeans and another kid hummed. I asked him to hum a bit more quietly so I could teach, and he did. I'll never forget that class.

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