Isaac and Jenni Marshall: Thoughts on Teaching...

Teaching is a profession that is often frustrating and draining, but can also be unbelievably rewarding! Every day teachers face a new series of challenges, obstacles- and hopefully- reasons to laugh and celebrate their career choice. Despite the exhaustion I feel at the end of many days, I love my job. I love helping children develop a passion for discovery, watching them grow and improve, celebrating their achievements (and who could complain about all the time off!). The aforementioned examples are all wonderful reasons to appreciate my profession, but the number one reason I love teaching the is completely light-hearted and a tad selfish. Most of all, I love that these little people I spend my days with have a way of making me laugh like no one else!

It has taken me a while to realize that MY children from last year have moved onto third grade and are no longer MINE... this has been very hard for me. I loved the kids in my class dearly, and though I knew I would grow to love my new students, I just didn't want to let go of my past kiddos. To my delight, every one of my students from last year has come to visit me... quite a few of them on a daily basis! And, now that several weeks have past, I'm beginning to feel some warm fuzzy attachments forming with my new class. This new group has provided me with plenty of reasons to giggle already... and I have a feeling there will be limitless opportunities for laughter throughout the year.

I have some incredibly kind and talented students this year, and I also have some real challenges. One of those "challenges" is a compulsive pathological liar, with an attention span of a goldfish, long black curls, and big brown eyes with lashes the size of Texas, that she knows how to use! X's (clever alias, huh?) reputation precedes her, as she has pushed her former teachers past their limits countless times. She is tough! We've already experienced some ups and downs, and I have a feeling I will be losing hair and sleep over this girl. The other day, X was having great success in class... she wasn't harassing any peers, she was participating appropriately in discussions, and was staying on task with fewer reminders. I assigned a handwriting drill (boring, but necessary!) and X immediately asked if she could go to the bathroom (clearly, to avoid the work). I told her she could go once her assignment was done. She got to work at once, and scribed diligently until the task was done- and done quite well, I might add! I excused her to go to the bathroom and began helping other students. Several minutes later I became aware that X had not returned from the bathroom, and knew something was up. I continued working with other students, and eventually, a rosy-faced X slunk into the room- the very picture of guilt. (Like that McFizz reference, Mom? ) I motioned X to me, and then realized she was all hunched over and holding something under her shirt. When she approached me I said, "You have guilt all over your face. Would you like to tell me why?" She quickly answered, "Well, you see, I went to the bathroom, but then... I had to get something." "What did you have to get?" I asked. "Toilet paper. I had to make something." she replied matter-of-factly. I reminded X that I had only given her permission to use the bathroom- not get creative with toilet paper. I then asked her to give me her creation. Blushing even more now, X reached up her shirt to retrieve the TP and I realized that she had made herself a huge pair of boobs! HA! Sure enough, she handed me two impressive round wads of paper. I don't know how I managed to hold it together, but I gave X a firm talk about trust before sending her on her way. Too funny!

Then later that day, students completed a math activity where they colored a jumbled picture, and a hidden image appeared. The image was a saxophone...