Back in Berkeley. Now living in
a shed in my parent's backyard. Ostensibly to save money for the nuptials, but really because I like the Groundskeeper Willie motif.
Reflections on teaching middle school:
Middle schoolers are monstrosities. I mean this in the kindest possible way. Their bodies and chemical systems are in the process of tearing themselves down and re-assembling themselves in a different configuration; in the interim, they are Frankenstein style amalgamations of adult and child. They are itchy and uncomfortable with themselves, and therefore uncomfortable with
the universe in general. Also, they have not yet learned to use deoderant.
School is almost certainly the worst possible place for the incipient adolescent. Taking multitudinous individuals who are insecure in themselves and seeking status and identity of some kind, any kind, and then lumping them together and expecting them to focus, learn, and behave in a civil manner to each other...is a totally dumb idea. Really, the best thing to do would be to put them in positions of authority over those younger than themselves, and give them some kind of genuinely useful function in the company of those who are older. Denying them both function and responsibility of any kind, and allowing them to associate primarily with only those of their own age, is bound to produce an artificial and unhealthy form of society, Lord-of-the-Flies-ish even.
Middle schoolers are at the age when they begin to ask interesting questions; when they start to seek a rational understanding of childhood beliefs. My religion students tended to be more interested in sin than in salvation. They delighted in proposing moral dilemmas, e.g. "So, if you were going to rob a bank, but it was in order to feed your family..." or "So, if you got drunk, but it was because the
punch was spiked...," and puzzling out the culpability. Middle schoolers are
casuists, end of story.
Middle schoolers are emotionally raw. They can be exultant today, despondent the next. They may confess doubts one day, and feign invulnerability the next day. As such, they are rather emotionally draining to be around, especially en masse.
Catholic private independent schools are probably a superior environment for middle schoolers to be in, if they had to be in a school. They certainly learn more, and get better test scores, than they do at most schools, public or private (and with far less money expended per student). Still, Catholic private independent schools have few resources at their avail, and teachers tend to "make do, or do without." No janitor, no substitute teachers, eight disparate classes to prep, teach, and grade...lots of freedom, but also lots of responsibility...broken toilets, exhausted administration, the occasional ant colony and bee swarm invasions...
In any event:
I'm not teaching next year.
More updates about My Life in the Civilized Half of the State to follow.
