Various Miracles (AKA, Goats in Trees)

The title "Various Miracles" is borrowed from Carol Shields, an amazing writer with a book of short stories of the same name. I've read a few of Carol Shields' stories with my students and happened upon this treasure of a book because I wanted to soak in more of her amazingly gorgeous writer's voice.

 In one of her stories she writes this sentence:

"New York was immense and wonderful, dirty, perilous and puzzling."

It hit me that if you exchange the words "New York" with "Middle School" the same descriptors are true; and as I reflect on finishing my 11th year of teaching, I can't help but borrow these words to describe my year and the various miracles it held.

Middle School Is:

Immense

The rumors about the middle school are true; drama is lurking behind every corner. The scale of drama in the halls of a middle school rivals that of the Burj Khalifa. The layers of emotion displayed on any given day---or hour!--boggles the mind. {The topic of braces, rubber bands for braces and general maintenance of braces brings immense drama...} Kids are going through so much and as a teacher, I have to build a reservoir of patience--and trust me, I use every ounce!  I had a few incidents this school year that truly made me question how and why I do this job. I know I will find my balance again, and perhaps I am being a bit dramatic myself, but the emotional toll of being a teacher is, well, is immense. 

Wonderful

I'm not sure there is another profession that has a "that moment" where everything falls into place and the miracle of a new understanding or the "ah-ha" changes everything. These moments show up for me through the various layers of reading, writing and speaking that my language arts students do every day. This year was no exception. I got to see and hear the writer's voice emerge and find a foothold. I got to see "that kid" actually like reading and make a connection to characters in stories and 'get it'. I got to see the terror in a student's eyes the first time they learn they have to publicly speak and then see confidence 6 months later. The wonderful parts of teaching are difficult to capture. While some days are harder than others to see these wonders, when I do see them, I cherish them and hold them close. 

Dirty

I don't think I need to give too many details here, but it's truly unbelievable how messy {and smelly!} kids are. I'm blaming the hormones. 

Perilous

The perilous moments of middle school could be connected to the immense drama as described above, but truly the perils of this job show up in my personal and emotional investment that is often in a fragile state. This job is personal. We put a lot of ourselves into multiple aspects of this job and when we do this, the margin that our efforts will be crushed narrows. Teaching is certainly not for the meek. {Another layer of peril rests in the political mess of education. We've got to get it together, folks!} 

Puzzling

Goats. In. Trees.
Is that random? Difficult to picture? Kinda silly? Weird?
Yes.
In January I purchased a "goats in trees" calendar {yeah, it's a real thing!} for our team's work area because I thought the ridiculousness of a goat in a tree perfectly captured the essence of middle school life. It is freaking scary how right I was! This job is as puzzling and ridiculous as goats in trees!!!! I am so grateful for my team and how we navigate these goats in trees and how we try to put the puzzle that is middle school together every day.   

Various Miracles

The bottom line is this: middle school is filled with various miracles that give me hope and give me life and I am so very grateful for every aspect of this crazy place.