teacher

Love, A Teacher Thankful for Those Adults

Dear Adult,

It seems in the wake of tragedy in our society people start pointing fingers. Sometimes at other adults, sometimes at kids. Teenagers have their heads stuck in their phones. All hope in our next generation has been lost. Teenagers only care about themselves. I decided to become a teacher because I wanted to make a difference in the life of a child. I didn’t go into teaching so I could practice intruder drills with my students. I didn’t go into teaching so I could lay awake at night trying to answer all the what jf questions that come from those drills. I didn’t go into teaching so I could read an incredibly boring script before state testing every year. I didn’t go into teaching so I could fill out paperwork, and documentation reports, and incident reports, and data trials, and..my list could go on. I do these not so great things because of our ever changing society and the needs that arise to protect my students and make them better people. I went into teaching so I could advocate for someone whose voice wasn’t quite strong enough on it’s own.

Have you ever seen the popular girl stop to help the quiet girl pick up her supplies scattered all over a busy hallway? I have.

Have you ever witnessed a student who has been disconnected from the classroom start yelling at a book during a class read aloud because he’s so invested in what’s coming off the page? And watch that same kid beg to spend the class period reading? I have.

Have you ever felt the silence in a classroom as a student tells the class, The most noble act a person can do is give their life for someone else? How about watch a teacher’s eyes fill with tears because she knows what that student was really saying in that moment was I’ll protect this classroom if it comes down to it..? I have.

Have you heard a packed auditorium of teenagers go wild when the students from the multiple disabilities classroom get on stage and perform their yearly dance routine in the talent show? I have.

Have you watched a kid’s face go from frustration to bewilderment when they hear I’m proud of you even though they made a few bad choices before a good one? Or the look on their face when a student hears I’m thankful for you or I appreciate you? I have.

Have you ever felt like a complete fool after you’ve spent a class period nagging a student to wake up, but come to find out that student has been helping out at home by making dinner and taking care of siblings so a parent could work? I have.

Again, the list could go on. We don’t always hear about the great things kids are doing every day. We hear, kids aren’t doing (insert whatever you want) or adults have failed our kids. Of course kids make poor decisions. I choose to help them in the dark times and celebrate the goodness.

I promise you the great things our younger generation are doing far outweighs the bad. Sometimes kids make bad choices and act like fools in public. Weren’t you once a teenager who needed a little help to get back on the right path? You may be where you are because of some pretty fabulous people in your life. Teachers, parents, bus drivers, friends, coaches, family, anyone. I know I am. Be that adult for a kid in your life. They may act like they don’t need you, but remember you tried to be tough at one time, too. ❤️

Love,

A teacher thankful for those adults in her life.

The Secret Club of the Teacher Mom

Motherhood is like a club everyone knows about but only few have access to. Entry into the club is raising a little human, the secret handshake is the dark circles under our eyes and the tired look on our faces. There’s so much focus on who is doing what right; breast milk versus formula, disposable diapers versus cloth, all natural everything or not, making your baby’s food by hand or buying it in the store; that maybe people forget about the not-so- secret club we all belong to. The club lets us know we aren’t alone in this crazy adventure. I love being a part of the club but it wasn’t until I went back to work that I realized I belong to another club that even fewer have access to.

The Secret Club of the Teacher Mom. I wrote a post about being the pregnant teacher but being the teacher mom is better. Maybe it’s because I’m part of “The Best Damn Staff In The Land” (not bragging, just stating facts). Maybe it’s because I work with mostly women. Maybe it’s because I’m a new mom. Or maybe it’s because being a teacher and a mom are two of the coolest things I get to do with my life. Whatever it is, I feel lucky to be a member of the club.

Before I had Brantley I told one of my coworkers I thought maybe I was having contractions. She responded with “Oh no, you’ll know when you’re having contractions.” I didn’t like the response but she was so right. This should have been my first clue about the club. These people in my club, they get it.

If I don’t get mascara on until 3:00 in the afternoon and the only reason I did was because we had parent teacher conferences, no one cares.
If I show up to work with my hair up in a bun, looking like I ran a marathon, no one cares. Little do they know the closest thing I’ve had to a work out in 5 months is walking from my bed to Brantley’s room 4 times a night (hence the marathon look).
If I show pictures of my little man every day, no ones (openly) cares. 🙂
If I don’t get done what I promised to get done, no one’s mad. They tell me my new life is always more important. I’ll get the job done by the deadline, they get it.
I tell them the babe is sick, they give me little tips and tricks to help him feel better and ease my mind.
I have a mini-meltdown or am overly dramatic about life, they let me do my thing.
I pass coworkers in the hall, they always ask about the babe.
When I’m ready to wave the white flag and throw in the towel, they remind me why I shouldn’t.

These people in my clubs..they are great. I’m one of the lucky few. Power to the Moms and Teacher Moms everywhere. ❤️

Adventures with Baby H- Part 4, Names

Naming our little babe has been quite an adventure. We can’t agree on many names. Sam likes normal and I like not normal (shocking, right??). I don’t understand how people can choose a name and stick with it their whole pregnancy. I’m not good with long term decisions. I want to trade in the car I bought two years ago for a lease so that I have the ability to change my car every three years. You can’t do that with a baby’s name. He/she is stuck with it forever. What if we decide in a couple years we don’t like it? Does that happen? It took us 3 or 4 days after getting our dog, Paisley, to decide she was going to be Paisley. Props to those of you out there who have this name game down! Maybe you could share some pointers. 🙂

If we do come up with a name that one of us likes there’s been a few tests it has to run through before it gets a yes or no.
1. Sports Announcer Test- Would this name sound good if it was announced as making the game winning shot at his/her senior state championship basketball game? I know, what if they don’t play sports? We don’t want to think about that. I shared this theory with a couple of friends the other night. They laughed at first but then had me test their name. I do believe they were in agreement with the theory and their baby names sounded great being announced as if their child had just made the game winning play.
2. The Teacher Test- I think it’s safe to assume I’m not the only teacher who automatically thinks of a particular student when a name is suggested. This could be good or bad but I would say mainly bad. I personally don’t want to name my kid Johnny if I had a student one year named Johnny who gave me 20 new grey hairs. Sam thinks I’m crazy. I just feel like the kid is doomed from the beginning if he/she is named after that student. Let’s be real, Sam and I have been told we were a little tough to raise at a few points in our life. No need to jinx ourselves from the get go if possible.
3. The Yelling Test- Sam would like our child’s name to have two syllables. This way it can be shortened when needing to yell for them. He thinks it’s hard to excitingly yell a longer name, thus we could shorten it if needed. On the flip side, if the child’s in trouble, he’s practiced kindly yelling a shortened version of their name. He says the child will know we mean business if we use their shortened name. My name was never shortened but when I heard Andrea Lynne! I knew I should be a little scared. Usually it was my brother’s name being yelled, though. 😉

Not many have made it through these tests. The internet doesn’t help with the name game either. I’ve googled everything I can think of: unique baby names, new baby names, old baby names, unusual baby names. All I get are names I can’t pronounce which means I know Sam can’t pronounce them. He claims he has a speech impediment. This is also another test the name has to go through. I tell him if we practice the name over and over he will have it down by October. Ha, he doesn’t go for the idea.

We find out this week what we are having so maybe it will help us narrow down the search. Stay tuned for the winner!

Adventures with Baby H- Part 3, Pregnant Teacher

I’ve had fun being pregnant thus far. I’m 18 weeks and I’m one of the lucky ones who hasn’t gotten sick, I can still wear all of my clothes (some pants just have to be left unbuttoned), and I’m feeling great. When I was far enough along to tell my students I was pregnant, I was a little nervous. They are 7th/8th graders and let’s be real..they know where babies come from. I’m also one of five teachers at my school pregnant so I wasn’t quite sure of the response I was going to get. My co-teacher let us get off topic one day in math to announce to the kids I was pregnant with this picture.

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Their faces and reactions were priceless. Teaching and being pregnant is even more fun than just being pregnant…I get to share the experience with 13 and 14 year old innocence. Over the last several weeks I’ve had many conversations with quite interested students. I hope you can get a little chuckle out of at least one.

I hadn’t been in class for nearly two weeks because of our lovely state testing. I had small groups I had to test outside the classroom.
Girl: “Mrs. Haddix! You are changing!”
Me: “Yes, I sure am. There’s definitely a baby in there.”
Girl: “It’s so fast! Last week you looked like this (sucks her stomach in real far). This week you look like this (pushes her stomach out as far as it can go).”
–Thank you, honey, for your honesty.

“So, what are you going to do when your pants don’t fit anymore?”

“Do you have super powers now that you’re pregnant?” –I totally went with this question! Yes, sir. I sure do!

“Stop jumping around! You have a baby in there now.”

This is my favorite conversation so far:
Boy: “What’s the difference between your baby momma and your baby’s mom?”
*I had to pause for a few to make sure I responded properly.
Me: “Well, if Sam (I talk about him often and there’s been several times my kids have wanted to call him during the school day) introduced me as his baby momma I wouldn’t be happy.”
Boy: “Ok. I would say baby momma and you’d say your baby’s mom.”
–I just nodded as he walked off confidently with full understanding of the two terms.

Girl: “When do you find out what you’re having?”
Me: “May 29th.”
*They all get excited.
My co-teacher: “She’s not going to tell you what she’s having.”
*They all get angry.
Me: “Nope, I’ll just have to run into you some time this summer.”
Girl: (serious as can be because she has a genius idea) “Ok, you need to go grocery shopping in July.”
–Don’t worry, dear. This pregnant lady will definitely do lots of grocery shopping at some point during the month of July.

Girl: “I told my mom you were pregnant and she told me some tricks that helped her when I was little. You have to keep the baby around loud things all the time when they are little. If you do that, it will always be able to fall asleep in loud places.”
Me: “Perfect! You and I both know I have the loud thing under control.”
*All she responded with was a big smile and a laugh.

The boys aren’t as chatty about the pregnancy as much as the girls but they show their interest in other ways. Boys who aren’t always the most thoughtful are opening doors for me, I drop something on the ground and they are the first to pick it up. When I first told one of my boys he wouldn’t leave my side. It was like he instantly decided to become my protector at school. The 8th graders could talk about me being pregnant for days. Luckily I’m in a science classroom with an experienced teacher who doesn’t mind to answer any question the kids throw at us.

You think all teenagers are loud, obnoxious and rude? Come spend a day with me at my middle school and you’ll change your mind.