Look! I'm a middle school teacher!

In some respects, it’s the "easiest" job I have ever had, and in others I absolutely detest it. "Patience is Suzy's virtue," said no one ever. My brain just doesn't operate in constant trauma...

welcome to G317 - a small reminder of Az

First things first, though. I have a fancy bulletin board thanks to my high school chum Alex Corey who seems to have this middle skool thing ALL figured out.

Next, I work on the all girls campus, and my room is in the corner by the partition separating us from "no man's land" aka boys middle school camps. I have two huge windows overlooking a kinder playground. There’s like a lot of squealing and giggling and friendship bracelets that you can never, ever under any circumstances EVER take off, Ms. Jamy-Lee. So many violently waving hands before directions are even finished. Weird cat ear headbands in a sea of blue, gold, and white mandated ensembles. But this isn’t your typical middle school because #uniforms & #privateschool. I student taught (survived) middle school in south Phoenix. I knew in 2006 I wasn't built for hormones, but here's to trying new things in a new place. #growthgoals

The Pros

• 45-minute classes

• Grade 6 American History: geography, historiography & Pre-History - Constitution

• Grade 6: 13-student, 15-student & 18-student classes

• Grade 7 World History: geography, historiography & Pre-History - Ancient China

• Grade 7: 26 & 28-student class sizes

• new, streamlined email signature

• projects take days = fewer teacher-led anything & more student voices

• school nannies; seriously, a kid threw up in my room, one of the other girls went to get a nanny, and my room was cleaned and disinfected in under two minutes

• teamwork for dealing with trouble kids & celebrating good behavior

• groupies: they want to literally be the whitest white-girl version of me, kthanksbye

desks are separate from chairs here...

The Cons

• they never stop talking & they're not interesting

• LUNCH DUTY: whoever came up with this load of bullshit should be publicly tarred and feathered like tax collectors of ol’

• Homeroom: Extra administrative tasks? No thanks, gurl.

• gLiTteR: it's everywhere & we have NEVER even used it in my room ONCE ... "the herpes of craft supplies" - Demetri Martin

• building trust takes more time than I thought - this isn't summer camp, apparently

• lockers: hadn't seen them since 2002 & girls cannot get to class on time because they forget their combinations - yup, it's only 3 numbers

• I taught AP for 10 years; middle school is mush

still looking for all that attention...

that's my Kuwait humid hair...

thanks to the Arizona Geographic Alliance for ready-made grade level activities

Conference Time