Teaching is great (finally). Just something positive about the youth!

[colorisnt]

I've had some really rough teaching semesters in the past. Last year, I was working for a faculty member who I liked as a person a lot but just had an entirely different teaching style than I did. Going back to TA'ing after instructing students was hard but necessary for me to complete my big comprehensive exams. Working with a brand new prof who had less teaching experience than I did in this class with a class of undergrads that were mostly lost and not incredibly studious and dealing with another TA who did not do ANY of the work assigned was a nightmare.

So, I got assigned a class this semester of my own, and I've really loved every second of it. Before this, I taught methods labs which are notoriously hated and while I had many amazing students, the labs were hit-and-miss. This semester, there have been a couple flakey students, the Dean getting involved on behalf of one sticky situation, and having to go to bat at Disability Services for another student, but man do I love what I do! I have such incredibly bright kids in my class. Not all of them are A students but most of them are smart, they participate, and they care. Very rarely do you get a group of kids this good. I assigned extra-credit the other day dealing with universal health care and my kids just responded brilliantly for the most part.

I gave them a few sentences as an assignment but most of them wrote whole pages of double-spaced arguments. Some of my kids have told me that they didn't think they'd care about this stuff (none are majors) but that I make the class relevant to applications beyond the major. That's the best compliment. Thinking about being done in two weeks makes me sad. Who knows when I get another class like this but man it's positive today to see them engaged and doing well. Tomorrow, we talk about gun policy and local political issues. I can't wait. It's a 9 AM class but I've never been so excited to get up at 7:00 as I am teaching this class of students.

And while a lot of people "hate" on "Millenials", my kids really do care about the world. It restores some faith in humanity.

[Crankin]

That's great. Teaching is like this; those wonderful moments you don't forget sustain you through the bad ones.
I am not sure why people are so down on millenials. My sons are wonderful, caring people, who in many ways exemplify what you said about your students. They were (are) not straight A students, but they are extremely bright, articulate, and interested in the world. And some of their friends from high school (long past now... 10 and 12 years ago) have done fabulous things.

[colorisnt]

Exactly. We're not all bad. I think the cultural differences in them vs. even my "generation" (still technically Millenial but there are big differences still) are interesting. Here are kids that genuinely are OK with taxes as long as they solve big problems like elder poverty or health insurance. But these are kids that are incredibly bitter and suspicious of banks and mortgages. My generation was all about graduating and buying a house (which many did) but these kids worry about things like living in their parents basement forever on a regular basis.

And you are right. The good moments HAVE to sustain you through the bad.

[rocknrollgirl]

I have been a high school classroom teacher for 26 years. I teach in a large suburban school, mostly middle class kids. I am currently teaching Advanced Placement, so I do have the top kids. I interact with the general population all day from homeroom, to my assigned duty.

That being said, I think the kids at my school are awesome. I am not sure what label they currently carry, but I find them to be caring, intelligent young people. Well 99% of them:)

Do I think that this" generation" is different than 10 years ago. I sure do, but so is society and so are their parents. If people are "hating" on them, let's try and remember that they did not raise themselves, and their world is very different from when I first stepped into a classroom.

I am glad you are loving your experience. It is an incredibly rewarding, frustrating, joyful, emotional way to make a living. It is really cool when you see you have planted a seed that really takes hold. Like for me when a kid comes into AP Bio in Sept wanting to be an engineer and leaves in June with an intended major in genetics, or immunology.

Cool stuff. OK, time to go mold young minds.....or get through Friday, whichever way the day goes!!!!!

[colorisnt]

Haha. Giving a lecture on public policy in the state of Missouri and our local community and finishing up my lecture on foreign policy (talking about the Ukraine). Can't wait.

Yeah, I love research but I have found that without teaching, my days just are not the same. Undergrads can be great and terrible but teaching and improving their work is so rewarding. I had 3 students at the dept. awards ceremony yesterday who started their projects in my class last year. Now they are graduating with honors and have done a whole capstone. One is going on to be a Fulbright and the other two are going to Masters programs. I couldn't be more proud. The one with the Fulbright says that without my encouragement, he would have applied to law school and missed out. That made me all choked up.