I'm student teaching at a middle school in Alpine which happens to be pretty much the most affluent area in all of Utah county (and is completely opposite of the demographics I had at the school where I did my pre-student teaching). The school is awesome, the administration is warm and caring, the other teachers treat me like an adult, the students are.... well, let's face it... teenagers, and my cooperating teacher is out of this world.
Cathy Jolley has been teaching middle school kids for 23 years. And she is a master. I love watching her teach, and just soaking it all in. Those 12-15-year-olds are doing things musically that I didn't learn how to do in high school or even college. Seriously, this woman is amazing. And she's funny, and she's spunky, and I love her so much.
I'm learning more about teaching, and more about myself, and more about teenagers every single day. And by gum, those little darlings are working their way into my heart. They are such. good. kids. Are they perfect? No. C'mon. They're teenagers. But they seem to me to be the product of high expectations. The adults in their lives,(not the least of which is Mrs. Jolley) expect a lot of them, and they do it with a lot of love. And it seems to me, that when a teacher has high expectations for their students, and a lot of love on top of that, magic happens.
And I get to be a part of that magic every day. Boy am I lucky.
Cathy Jolley has been teaching middle school kids for 23 years. And she is a master. I love watching her teach, and just soaking it all in. Those 12-15-year-olds are doing things musically that I didn't learn how to do in high school or even college. Seriously, this woman is amazing. And she's funny, and she's spunky, and I love her so much.
I'm learning more about teaching, and more about myself, and more about teenagers every single day. And by gum, those little darlings are working their way into my heart. They are such. good. kids. Are they perfect? No. C'mon. They're teenagers. But they seem to me to be the product of high expectations. The adults in their lives,(not the least of which is Mrs. Jolley) expect a lot of them, and they do it with a lot of love. And it seems to me, that when a teacher has high expectations for their students, and a lot of love on top of that, magic happens.
And I get to be a part of that magic every day. Boy am I lucky.
You are cute and are going to be one of those great teachers!!
ReplyDeleteI would love to be there and see some of the wonderful stuff happening in Alpine.
ReplyDeleteSharing it by phone and online, while a definite step down, is still very cool.