The "Bad" Kids

I left my sub job today wishing that I could be there everyday. Today, I was over at an alternative school for at-risk kids who are mostly at-risk for not graduating. What I experienced today was amazing and I was pretty surprised by myself. I thought that today was going to be difficult and disheartening, but it was the exact opposite! Sure, there were kids who decided that they didn't feel like doing their work, but you can find that in any classroom you step foot into. These kids were more respectful towards me than I typically find in the mainstream schools. They were also upfront with me about what was going on with their personal life, and how it was affecting their school work. I've never taught a class with pregnant students before, but today I found myself discussing registering for baby showers and due dates, and looking at pictures of the babies they've already had. Though there were some more jaw-dropping, inappropriate topics that were being discussed in class (specifically centering on getting piercings on one's nether regions), and despite the fact that one girl came back from using the pass reporting that she had just seen someone getting their eyebrow and nose pierced in the large stall of the girl's bathroom, I felt more comfortable in that classroom than I did during my student teaching. It also didn't hurt that the classroom sizes were no larger than 20 students in the school, and the largest class that I personally taught today had 15 students, and the smallest had 7.

Something about these "bad" kids really touched me, and after what I have experienced today, I'm definitely thinking that I will try my hardest to land a teaching job at a similar alternative school for the fall.