School's Out! (Again)

School's out, and I have made it through my five weeks as the teacher for the middle schoolers at the alternative school. There were lots of ups and downs, tears, and frustrations on my part, but we had some good moments, too. My goal was to get them back in school, and for ten kids, that is going to happen. 

I began with thirteen kiddos, expelled two due to gross violations of the rules for being in the program, and a third left of his own volition. Of the remaining ten kids, I have hopes for them to be successful next year, but it is up to them. 

One of the very best parts of coming out of retirement is that I had a former student of mine working alongside of me.

I was Madeline's teacher for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. She is now studying to be a teacher at Purdue University, and so when they told me I could have a classroom assistant, I invited her to apply for the job.  What a treat to work with her! And she is going to be an excellent teacher herself.

It was a proud teacher moment for me when Madeline taught the students origami - something that I introduced her to when she was in my classroom.

The students were absolutely riveted and for many of them, it was an opportunity to be successful at something in school.

Some even took the origami to different levels, experimenting with various sizes of paper as well as making other shapes besides the cranes that Madeline taught them.

The very last day of school was the roughest we'd had in the class for at least a week. The kids were DONE with school and their behavior reflected that. It was a constant juggle all day long, and my patience was stretched as thin as I think it has ever been stretched before. One student became so angry at me that I was actually afraid that he was going to hit me at one point as he raised his voice and yelled at me. (I called the principal for help at that point.)

 My desk and things, all packed up for the end of the school year.

As difficult as those five weeks were, I did come to love the students. There were moments when the tough outer exteriors dropped for a few moments and I could see them as simply kids. We even had some laughter - the morning class had a running joke about always being hungry (none of them ate breakfast and so would be hungry an hour into the school day.) It became a fun joke of them begging for food or threatening to use their phones to order something and have it delivered to school. One boy even googled, "What to do when your teacher is starving you" and showed it to me, and we laughed and laughed over that one. So some good moments, some glimmers of who they could be if they would take the chance being offered them and change their focus to better things.

I wrapped up the last day by packing and closing down the classroom after the students left. I am exhausted and drained, and my emotions are mixed. Did I really make any kind of difference in those kids' lives? There was some progress - ten students will be back in school this August, their language was much improved, and they ended the school year far more respectful than they were five weeks ago when I arrived. 

Tough as it was, I'm glad that I took the position. I hope that perhaps the kids saw a different side of life and know that I cared about them. My fingers are crossed that they will find better success next year than they did this one.

It's now up to them.