Impressions of a sixth grade teacher.

Every month the sixth graders at my school do a "monthly project."  We give them the entire month to work on it and then they turn it in the last school day of the month.  For November, we did a Greek mythology project where they had to write a paper, present about their god/goddess/myth, and then bring some kind of a visual along with them.  I've had lots of kids already bring their projects in {they get 5% extra credit for doing so} and this is one of the projects I've already received.  UM.  Can you say amazing?  Actually... a ton of them have really been cracking me up.  They were all super creative.  And I was really dying when I saw this one.

Speaking of my students... they are so sweet.  I really have a class full of serious helpers.  It was hard transitioning from my class last year to this one.  They are seriously different groups of kids and I love both classes for completely different reasons.  Of course I still miss and adore my first class, and I'm pretty sure it will always be that way, but this group of kids has really grown on me.  It's pretty amazing how even though kids are kids, the dynamics, depending on the group of kids, can be so different from year to year.

I've recently found myself sitting there at the end of the day not even knowing what I had left to do {of course this doesn't happen every day} because most of my normal "in the classroom tasks" are finished by 3:15 when the kids leave.  They are so good at maintaining their different jobs and getting things done when it's not even asked of them.  I feel like I have some really special kids that see when something or someone needs help, and just takes on the task without me asking.  Today, one of my students voluntarily missed art to stay in and help another student who is struggling with getting assignments done.  As I sat there and listened to them talk, I was so impressed with this particular student who had seen that someone needed help and a friend {and it's not always cool to just have your teacher be your only friend} and jumped on to help, without me ever saying a word.  I literally contemplated pulling out my phone and recording the conversation because it was THAT sweet/hilarious.

I've had a few other moments with kids in my class helping that particular student that I wish I could share, but won't because I feel like I'd be walking pretty close to that privacy line.  However, know that there are some pretty amazing kids out there.  I absolutely LOVE teaching this age.  It is so fun to watch them go through all of these important stages in their lives.  Even though they're definitely still kids, they grow up SO much from August to May and watching them mature and change is so special.  I feel so blessed to have had these 55 kids in my life over the past year.  They're pretty incredible little souls.