Required Blogs: Favorite Student and Best Part of Day (improvised)

Describe Your Favorite Student

I have many of them, but I will write on one, or maybe a few, in particular.  One of them is probably the biggest pain in my ass, but overall, he is a great kid.  I'll call him T in this post.  T is the student that asked me if I had liquor in my thermos that I take to school every day.  It's filled with coffee, but if it was filled with what he mentioned, it would probably make my day a lot easier, and a lot funnier.  I'm only kidding.  T also managed to ask me, in the middle of class one day, "Mr. Gray, did you get paid today?"  He's also the kid that told me he was too "hood" to wear glasses after I got on to him for having to move up to the front of the room to take notes every day, although I think he does it for attention and so that he can sit by me for most of the class period.  Anyway, he is a great kid.  A smart kid.  He talks and wastes class time entirely too much, but for some reason I always look forward to having him in class because he makes it fun and rewarding at the same time.  He tells me all the time that he wants to make money like I do (I don't tell him that I don't make squat), and that he is going to ace every test that I give him.  He bets me that his test grade will be a 100, and he listens to me respectfully at all times.  He acts like an ass some times, but he is just being a teenager.  I give him one warning per class period, but it's because I love him (in a tough love way of course).  He sees and realizes that I care about him as a student, and for that I appreciate him.  I have a lot of male students like this.  It makes me feel as if I am, in fact, a positive MALE role model for these kids, something that they need, in my opinion, so badly in their lives.  T made a 96 in my class the first term.

Best Part Of Day (IMPROVISED)

Another post that we have to choose from is "What is your favorite part of the day?"  I'm going to skew this topic a little.  I have many parts of the day that make me realize why I love teaching:  My students in general, when they understand a concept, when they succeed, and when they remember important information, are just a few of the little perks of this job, but there are times that I want to pull out what little hair I have left as well.  That leads me to my unauthorized topic change.  "What is the worst part of your day?"  My answer, when these kids don't know things that they should have learned 3,4, or maybe even 5 years ago.  It makes me sad, angry, and helpless all at the same time to see and hear these kids say they don't know who Hitler is, where the United States is on a map, or what the word democracy means.  Yes it is my job to them teach these things, but man would it be a hell of a lot easier if these kids were taught properly earlier in their lives.  It's hard, and at times impossible, to stop and help the select few who don't know basic information that they should have learned in fifth grade, and keep the rest of my students engaged and on task at the same time.  It all goes back to the point and fact that if the system worked, then there wouldn't be a Mississippi Teacher Corps in the first place (a slogan that we heard a thousand times in summer training).  If teachers were qualified enough and motivated enough, then our state wouldn't be in this big of a bind.  It is sad that I, a recent college graduate with only two months of teacher training, am a better teacher, in my opinion, than half of my co-workers at my school.  I'm happy, proud, and maybe a little too confident to  make that previous statement, but I believe it nonetheless, and that is what disheartens me.  This public education system is a mess, this school district is a mess, and  this city, overall, is a mess.  It's sad, just sad...