I just finished up my student teaching at a middle school this April. So I thought I would share a few things that I learned:
Mrs. Sorensen’s Realizations About 7th Graders
1. They don’t know who Charles Darwin is.
2. Not war, not death, not sickness, but a pencil is the thing that causes the most drama and tragedy.
3. I take back #2. The thing that causes the most drama is a broken pencil sharpener.
4. If 7th graders got paid for every note that they passed, they would be filthy rich.
5. They have weird fixations with teacher’s footwear.
6. What is blue, black, green, purple, pink, or orange all over? A 7th grader with exposed skin and some markers.
7. The glitter on their hands, eyelids, cheeks, and in their hair (and just about everywhere else) matches the energy and light of their smiles and personalities.
8. They all have hearing problems—why else do I have to repeat myself and raise my voice so much?
9. 7th graders slowly turn into 8th graders.
10. Nothing is impossible for them—they could be rocket scientists or Pulitzer prize winners or MLB stars, but the one impossible thing for some is learning how to not say out loud what they are thinking!
11. They are like dominoes—or maybe more like the grand finale of the 4th of July fireworks—once one is set off (or starts talking) all of the others explode in one noisy jubilation.
12. Writing a full sentence is often like climbing Mt. Everest.
13. Silence can escalate into deafening decibels in less time than it take for my uncle’s Mercedes to go from 0 to 60.
14. According to 7th graders, 1st period always starts too early.
15. Many of them are paralyzed from the neck to the waist: their mouths and legs work just fine, but they can’t raise their hands to save their life.
16. Never, ever, EVER let them drink a Monster before class.
17. They can be surprisingly sweet and draw pictures for you and make PB&J’s for the whole class.
18. I’m going to miss them!
