My life has been a roller coaster recently. I have gone from unemployed to doubly employed (but still underemployed) very quickly, and I have also leaned closer to finding out what I really want to do with my life, career wise. :) For two weeks now I have been working as an AVID tutor in a local middle school. Before the job started I always joked with my dad about how he was absolutely insane to work with middle school aged kids every day, but I have come to find out that they have this sort of charm about them that seems to continue making me smile.
Shows have become popular about the silly things kids say, "Kids say the Darndest Things" is just one of the many. I already have two conversations with one student in particular that I found hilarious and I would like to document them.
I have four different classes, two seventh grade and two eighth grade. Both conversations that I am documenting in this blog took place on the first day of tutoring in my 2nd seventh grade class with a student, J.
We were playing a game called "Snowball" that is part "Three Truths and a Lie" but also part snowball fight. Each student, tutor and teacher made a list and threw them into the middle and students had to guess who was who and which statement was the lie. I was sitting next to J, a seventh grade boy during this activity.
One truth a student wrote was "My favorite brand of shoes are Nikes."
J looks over at me and asks, "What is the difference between shoe brands."
I tell him, "Different brands make different types of shoes, for example, the company who makes my shoes [nice dress boots] probably doesn't make your shoes [beat up sneakers]."
J says, "Oh come on, these are the same!" He then puts his shoe next to mine showing "no" difference.
I laugh and say, "I guess they are the same, you would wear these wouldn't you?"
J says, "Yes, but darn, they aren't my size!"
Rachel (another tutor) says, "Like that is the only thing holding him back" sarcastically.
J looks at her and says, "I'd so rock those boots!"
Later on in the activity someones truth was "I watch the O.C" and since that was a popular show on while I was in high school, many of the students had never even hear of the show.
J looks at me and asks, "What is the O.C?"
I said, "It is a drama like tv show, but it is hard to explain, what shows do you watch now?"
J, "I like spongebob."
Me, "Yea, its nothing like that."
J, "Oh come on, spongebob is like real life, they are adults with jobs, the Krusty Crab is real."
I started laughing, but didn't really have much to say so we started listening to the other students read their papers. Then out of nowhere J quietly says, "I like the Vampire Diaries." This statement by itself was enough to make me burst out in laughter because he didn't seem like the Vampire Diaries type, but then I said, "It is more like that just minus the blood."
Needless to say, I think J is one of my favorite students so far.
I have noticed that there are some students I just seem to click with more than others. One seventh grade student, E, seemed super shy the first week of class, but I connected with her. During week two she seemed to open up quite a bit. We were doing a Costas Levels of Questioning activity about "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and randomly during the group time she speaks up and says, "I think it should be called E and the Three Bears, and I would show them who is boss!" It was great!
I love my job so far. The bratty kids are outweighed greatly by the awesome ones. I hope the rest of the school year goes this well, because it will end with me going back to school to become a teacher so hopefully I can do this full time!
