Under the Belt!

This is going to be a very interesting year! I managed to survive my first week as a new teacher. It is easy to see which students will be a breeze and which ones are going to require some "special attention". I have already had some hilarious things happen and some pretty scary things too. Lets start with the hilarious!

I walked up to this boy with a Harry Potter book on his desk and asked him if he had read all the books. He replied yes, then asked the girl beside him if she likes Harry Potter. Her response was classic. "My grandma told me I am never aloud to watch that stuff. It is full of demons! She walked in and saw me watching one of the movies and told my momma that I better never bring that junk in my house again!" So...the boy says, "well did you like the one you saw?" and here comes the good part. She says "NO! that is WIERD! I aint never seen no people flyin around before! That is just crazy"

That is when I walked away because I was laughing so hard I couldn't control it! I just love the "I aint never seen no people flyin around before" part.

The next fun experience was my 1st school dance.

The dance starts off with all the kids against the wall. Girls separate from boys. Once the music starts they all run into the center of the room and form this big circle to try and hide the forbidden behavior, (booty dancing)  Well of course it is our job as chaperone's to ruin their lives and fun by breaking up the circle. It was kind of fun breaking through that circle and watching them all scatter to the other side of the room. Almost every time I had to break up the booty dancing it was from this group of girls that used to go to our youth group. When they saw me they were like "WHAT are YOU doing here!" and I got to say, "oh, I work here now so we can see each other all the time"  :)

There were also a couple things that had me saying holy crap!

To start have you ever stood on concrete floors for eight hours? ouch! Seriously, my feet have never hurt so bad in my life.

Then there was that kid.....(I am not joking) the very first thing I had them do was answer some questions about themselves. What does this kid do....he lets out this pitiful sigh "HHHMMMMmmmmPPPPHHHH", "do we have to". I just looked at him and said "you better get over it now because if you think this is terrible then you are going to hate school". He just looked at me and then answered the questions.

Finally, there is this.....on the FIRST week of school TWO, not one, TWO of the girls in my classes got suspended for fighting. (and not with each other) I'm thinking great...I need to hire a bodyguard or something! Apparently they both got caught fighting after school in the bus loop. lovely!

Anyways, I can tell that I am really going to enjoy this school year! I love the students, the teachers are great, and I am so happy to finally be doing what I have felt destined to do all my life!

I have spent this week trying to get to know my students and their interests, but also trying to get them to know me. I told them that the reason I am there is not for a paycheck, but because I truly believe in them. Everyday before they leave, I am making them hold their hands up in the air and say "These hands can change the world" I thought for sure they would think it was stupid, but turns out the really like it. They have been the ones reminding me, "hey! don't forget the hands"

I am so ready to see the outcome of these students. I could tell when I was talking to them about changing the world and telling them that they could literally be whatever they wanted no matter what their life has been like so far, that some of those students had never had anyone believe in them before.

God, Please let me be that person who believes in even the most unreachable student. Let them feel like they can do whatever they put their minds too.