Why I Teach...

This year I am teaching 4 Practical English courses for struggling learners. My freshmen and sophomore class have been studying the 6 Traits of Writing and we have just recently finished the trait of Word Choice. So, the two classes have been working on creating their own children's books for the past few weeks as a final project to assess their comprehension. We ended the unit by visiting the 1st grade classes at our town's elementary school. The "big kids" read their stories to groups of "little kids." It was so great to watch! This was a tough project for my students, but they really stepped up to the plate. Some funny instances from the day:

1. We caught one little boy eating chalk.
2. One of my students was reading to a group of girls when they started singing "I like to move it, move it!" from Madagascar, right in the middle of his story (which had nothing to do with Madagascar or the song!).
3. The same young gentlemen finished reading his story to a small group of kids and the kids just kind of sat there...to break the awkward silence he said, "Well, how 'bout a round of applause?!?"
4. I had one student who was kind of uncomfortable with the kids, he didn't quite know what to think. As he read his story about Batman and Spiderman, the kids kept shouting, "What happens to the Joker?!?" The student politely said, "The Joker's not in this story." They continued shouting about the Joker when he finally laid down the law. Exasparated with these little kids he said, "This is my story. The Joker is NOT in my story!" The kids just looked at him like he was absolutely off his rocker.

Anyway...it was a great day. Both the "big kids" and the "little kids" enjoyed the time...my big kids really amazed me today...one of my sophomores told me today that this made him want to be an elementary school teacher :) It is days like this that remind me why I teach....though it is difficult at times, it is definitely a rewarding career.