Teaching 7th Grade

"Stop calling us kids," the kids in my fourth hour 7th Grade American History class suggested when I asked them what I could do to be a better teacher.  We were nearing the end of the year, and I liked getting feed back from my students.  "You kind of treat us like we're still in elementary school, you know."

Really?  And here I'd been thinking I was really tough and mean.  Dad had always said the best way to start a new year of teaching was to make someone in your class cry on the first day of school.  He said if you started out really strict, your students would respect you and discipline would be easier.  Then, as the year progressed, you could lighten up and have fun with your kids.  But you could never go back and get tougher, the kids simply wouldn't let you.

Well, when I moved up to teach Junior High School I'd tried to take dad's advice, but maybe I hadn't been hard enough.  I had great classes, but keeping them on track, quiet, and paying attention was still an issue sometimes.

I'd never really thought about teaching Junior High when I studied to be a teacher.  My degree was in K-8 (Kindergarten through eighth grade) Elementary Education, with a specialty in History.  I'd taught 1st, 4th, and 6th grade.  But then I was called to teach the thirteen year-old Sunday School class, and I loved it.  When an opening became available for a 7th grade American History teacher, it caught my eye.  Teaching history would be lots of fun, and after teaching Sunday School, I thought I ought to be able to handle the kids. 

I loved my new job!  The kids were pretty intimidating, but telling stories about our American heritage was so much fun, and I could usually keep their attention and get them interested in what I was teaching.  Best of all, I got to indulge my dramatic tendencies by dressing up like the people I talked about, which the kids loved.

"You know, Gale," my Principal told me during my end of the year review, "you have to be almost arrogant to be a good junior high school teacher.  Your kids have to know that this is your room, your class, and either they do things your way or they are out of your class.  I know that sounds really vain, but twelve and thirteen year old kids need that kind of structure to do well in school."

I thought about his advice all summer, and planned how I would greet my kids on the first day of the new school year.  It was scary, but I practiced being mean and arrogant for weeks, and when that first day actually came, I was prepared.  I felt so strict, and in control.  It was actually really cool.  The kids listened  to my rules, (they always pay attention the first day, it's after that teachers struggle to get their attention) and I had the most wonderful year! 

"Ladies and Gentlemen," became my customary greeting instead of calling my students "kids".  It was amazing what just that simple change did in getting them to pay attention.  They liked being treated like adults, and in turn they acted like them.  It was so much fun!