Yellow Flowered Adventures: English Teaching (for lack of a creative title)

A friend mentioned my slack in blog posts. I didn’t feel guilty until I realized I had people who thought I was still teaching second grade. My bad.

About five or so weeks ago, I was asked to take over high school English; a long story--one I don’t have the energy to get into, but as of today, I have been teaching sixty-three high school students for one month.

I’m now sitting in my new(ish) classroom. Notes on the American Romanticism period are scribbled across my chalkboard, and I’m hoping my Juniors study for their quiz tomorrow. I like it here. The other day, Carrie said to me, “I can tell you’re happier these days.”
I believe I am.

I’m surprised at how quickly I’ve fallen into the drawl of this high school routine. I was too intimidated to apply for English when I chose my positions early in the year. A few students are my age, and some are even older--no lie. Thankfully, that hasn’t affected my work, or their cooperation in learning. Maybe because they don’t know.

I do miss my little second graders. They still visit me on occasion. I hear them running up the steps to the high school hall after school, screaming, “Miss Julie!!” Miss Julie is their new teacher, and I’ve stopped responding to that name. I think I may sometimes glare when they call me that. Dillon told me yesterday, “I’m scared to call you Miss Julie now, because I don’t want you to be mad.” I might have to rethink my response to the accidental and automatic mix-up of our names.

And though I miss the little people, I’ve grown surprisingly attached to my new students. Very much. They give me my good days. I thought I’d have a hard time leaving my second grade students at the end of the school year. I had no idea. In chapel, as I watched some of my sophomore boys sing up front, the last thing I wanted to think about was having to leave them. I didn’t know one could care for non-family/friends this much. I smiled this week when Nikko told me he wanted to call me Sister. Though he’s younger, he does look after me. He and Keja. They would not fit so easily into my suitcase like Aana. I may have to come up with something else.
As the days go by, I fall more in love with English (I officially decided that, had I lived in the 1800s, I would have asked Washington Irving to marry me), and more in love with my students (I’ve turned down only three proposals so far). I would say life is good right now.

Keja & Nikko (Miyoshi)