I'm sitting at an all girl's school in my hometown enjoying a few weeks of teaching bliss.
Wait, what? How did I get here? Ha! It's funny you should ask that.
Here's the scoop...
I finished student teaching about a week later in Arkansas. Then I walked for graduation. Then I took a class. Then I got my diploma. All without knowing what the future had in store for me. I spent the summer trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my time when I landed upon substituting. You can always get a subbing job at schools in any city and schools are always short on good subs. So I decided to give it a shot. Little did I know the rewards that I would reap from these experiences.
I chose several schools around my hometown and contacted them on how to get on their sub list. I probably contacted about 15 schools and landed 3 of them without much trouble. One of them was my alma mater and a school that I absolutely adore :-) The other two were the all girl's school and another Christian school around the area (except, not really...) Anyway, I got regular subbing jobs at my alma mater and the other Christian school. But I got a long-term position teaching history (yeah!) at the all girl's school taking over for a teacher on maternity leave.
All I can say is that I absolutely love it here!
And that's weird...
Why?
Because I always told myself that I would NEVER teach in an all girl's school because I knew, I just KNEW I would hate it.
Reality check!
It's probably the best place I have ever been privileged to work. Ok, not probably. Is.
The school is very rigorous but the atmosphere is so much more laid back - cause there are no boys here! They're the ones that cause all the drama! No seriously, they are. There is a little drama that goes on in this school, but not NEARLY as much as what goes on in a co-educational school. The girls here don't have to worry about impressing a boy or whatever else girls worry about when they go to school with boys. It's actually very relaxing and laid back. Not that they don't have structure - because they do. They have such structure that teachers really don't have to have a discipline system because the girls don't misbehave. Whoever heard of a school where the students don't misbehave?!? I certainly had not until I came here. The girls know what is expected of them and they do it - no questions asked. They are not argumentative, disrespectful, or pushy in any way. Sounds like a dream, don't it? (there's my southernness coming out... sorry for the bad English) In all reality, it's better than I could ever have imagined. I honestly never thought I would enjoy being with so many women at the same time but I'm having a blast. I almost just want to stay here forever and never go back to co-ed schools.
You want my honest opinion?
Don't get mad, okay?
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If I had the money and kids, I would send them to a school just like this (all-girl's school for the chick and the all-boys school for the hoss, lol), no questions asked.
Schools like this build character and the girls are free to become independent, think for themselves, be who they really are without the pressures of the opposite sex bearing down on them all the time. They don't have to put on a face in the presence of a boy, they don't have to stab their friends in the back (because, let's face it, it happens every day in a co-ed school). Now, I'm not saying it doesn't happen here (because it does, I've seen it), but it doesn't happen as much.
Plain and simple - there is not as much pressure here as there would be in another school. And I love that. Again, the school is very rigorous and exceedingly hard to do well in (and even get in to), but every girl comes out with her own identity and with the knowledge and skills to do well in college and in the real world. This truly is a one of a kind place and I would work here full-time if they ever offered me a position. No lie. Because I truly love coming to work everyday and feeling less pressured to make sure everyone in class is participating and behaving. I have 100% of that everyday. It's phenomenal.
Hey! You teacher who is reading this! I bet you're having a hard time comprehending what I've been saying. This school sounds like heaven, doesn't it?
Every word is the truth.
Now, please don't think that I have been bashing co-ed schools. I promise I'm not. I'm sure my experience is exactly the same as someone else who grew up in co-ed schools. It's the realization that not everything is as they seem that just gets me every time I come to work. I kick myself all the time for having such a negative view of same-sex schools. They really are not what they seem at first glance.
I know that in a few weeks, when my time here is complete and I go back to substituting at co-ed schools, that I will miss the placid atmosphere of the all girl's school. But I will forever remember and cherish everything that I have learned here and the people I have met and formed relationships with. Every experience changes me in someway and I always learn something new. That's the beauty of teaching - I never stop learning.
Now, more than ever, I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Sure there are aspects of education that I don't appreciate, but no job is ever always rainbows and roses. I work hard and get rewarded for it everyday. There is nothing that I would change about my occupational decision.
To me, it is perfect. It is my zen. My adrenaline. My purpose.
And I love every minute of it.
To those teachers out there who feel like giving up - DON'T! You never know how many lives you touch simply by being there and forming relationships. Yes, it is hard work and yes, it is frustrating at times, but the good outweighs the bad each and every time.
I know I speak from little experience, so take it for what it's worth. But as a recent student and now a working professional, I know without a doubt that teachers have had one of the greatest impacts on my life than any other person on the planet - besides my parents. I don't know if I would have gotten through school if my teachers had not constantly encouraged me to keep going, even when I didn't think I could. They were there for me when family could not be. Don't ever think you are invisible in your student's lives. I promise you are one of the biggest and brightest lights they will ever come across. Taking from the experiences I had in high school and college, I constantly try every day to be a light to the students I see every day, just like my teachers did. They may never realize how much of an impact they all have had on my life, but I learned from everyone of them how important it is to be a good role model and supporter.
Thus far, that is what I have learned. I look forward to learning much more from other teachers and students in the years to come.
Thank you to all of the teachers who have had me at some point in their life. You have been a blessing :-)
I love you all!
This concludes a ridiculously long post...
Aimee
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