Somewhat better than crocodile wrestling

There are people out there who wonder why I would ever want to teach middle school. People who think that teaching middle school must be on par with crocodile wrestling-- dangerous, messy, and not terribly productive. If that's you, I would like to take this opportunity to prove you absolutely wrong.

Last school year, in the context of a lesson, I shared something about my personal life that has been causing me stress. In talking about it out loud, I was surprised (and slightly horrified, I'll admit) to find myself tearing up. I wrapped the conversation up quickly, and moved on to the next piece of the lesson.

The next day, one of my students stopped me as I was transitioning between activities.

"Miz Middling, we know that you're going through a difficult time right now, and we just wanted to let you know that we are thinking about you and hope that everything works out."

And then they gave me chocolate. And a card that the whole class signed.

Quotes from the 2015-2016 School Year

2015-2016

Quotes from previous years can be found here: 2013-2014, 2014-2015

Outside my [open] classroom door (which is nevertheless treated like a magical barrier to sound):

Unknown: I think Miz Middling is my second favorite teacher.


Me: You know, I can hear you out there.


Kid: ...Miz Middling is my VERY FAVORITE TEACHER EVER.

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"Can I cite my dad as a source? He's old."

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Me (talking about the Northwest Passage): ...So they decided to try sailing west instead of east. Because, as you may recall, the earth is round.

Kid: But... is it, though? Because it feels flat.

Me: Yes. The earth is definitely, definitely round.

Kid: Ok... but why don't we fall off?

Me: Well, because of gravity.

Kid: Oh. I forgot about gravity.

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Kid: Oh, that's a cool project (other student) did! And that's a LOT of a hot glue. Hot glue's so great. It works for everything. I used it on my project too.

Me: Yeah, it's pretty useful.

Kid: But it tastes really gross. And it can also burn your mouth.

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"Miz Middling, where is the pencil charger?"

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Kid 1: Where in the book is the map of where all the tribes lived?

Me: Chapter 3. Kind of the beginningish middlish part of the chapter.

Kid 2: Beginningish middlish? What does that mean exactly?


Me, holding up my hands: So if this (left hand) is the beginning, and--


Kid 2: Oh! You mean, like, the brunch part of the chapter!


Me: Exactly.

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A child chose the nickname "Puberty Boy" for a class game. Of course.

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Kid: "Oh, I didn't see that. My eyes got in the way."

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8th grade leader: Ok, you guys have to get together with a partner. This time you can choose your own partner.

He watches as the 6th graders cluster up-- 5 boys together and 3 girls together.

8th grade leader: No, no. Partners.

No one moves. He sighs deeply.

8th grade leader: This is middle school. You have to learn to abandon your friends.

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6th grader: "...and I wear more pink than most boys. So, my spirit animal is an octopus."

Me: "You know what's funny? For a long time, pink was for boys and blue was for girls. It's only fairly recently, historically speaking, that it flipped. Isn't that interesting?"

<Moment of thoughtful silence from the class>

Same 6th grader: "Well. You know. I'm kind of recent."

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