Teaching middle school can be like being in the National Enquirer

Middle school, in and of itself, is filled with rumors, gossip, gross over estimates and hyperbole beyond belief. The middle school rumor mill does not discount, overlook or deny anyone. We're all subject to ridicule, especially teachers. I am setting this up to make it sound so much worse than it was... but kids love to spread rumors- some of my students like to spread them about me.

Here are a few of the rumors my students have spread over the past few years about yours truly:

1. I live in the ghetto.

Working in a rural/rural suburban district, my students have a view unlike others on life in the small city they live near. Occasionally I could tell when they watched the morning news or listened to the radio on the way into school. They would ask me about a street in the city and my apartment's proximity to the location. Even though I assured them I lived on the east side of the city in a "nice" section, they did not believe me. It was more intriguing for them to think of me as dodging drive-bys as I checked my mail in the afternoon.

2. My boyfriend has dreadlocks.

Only a few select students have actually met my boyfriend or seen what he looks like. I do not display pictures of anything except my extremely overweight cat. I don't share a lot of information with them regarding my personal life as it does not make them better English Language Arts learners. But, of course- he has come up. My students thought if I dated anyone it should be a former contestant on American Idol who happened to have dreadlocks. They said we would look "cute together." One rumor turned into another and I artfully- or so I thought at the moment- dodged boyfriend/relationship questions, which allowed their imaginations run wild. Hence the rumor, my boyfriend is a singing hippie with dreadlocks.

3. I am Buddhist.

I admire the religion and what it represents about people and how it communicates meaning and the idea of spiritualism, however I am not Buddhist. Throughout my years teaching, I have displayed several little Buddha figures. The kids ask about them and I tell them I collect them. It's true. I keep them as little reminders of what it is I admire about the religion and how I can best handle situations. I seem to catch them out of the corner or my eye when I'm about to say or do something when I might want to pause before following through.

Listed above are the three main big rumors. I am sure there are others I haven't heard about... I guess it could be worse!

The Countdown Begins...

I officially have two more weeks with my 7th graders. The ELA Exam is less than two weeks away. We have been reviewing like crazy and I think they have had it. Next week comes the big review stuff. We will be sticking directly to the testing format and completing several different test-structured practices, such as listening and taking notes, editing a paragraph for grammar and useage mistakes and of course, everyone's favorite- note the sarcasm- reading comprehension passages with multiple choice questions. I have been trying a different approach this year. I have seen my kids become somewhat apathetic to the idea of taking this test. It's been difficult to find motivators. Now that I am leaving, they don't even care at all. They are simply looking forward to someone new stepping in and starting all over again.

I asked my 5th period class to create their own multiple choice questions, modeled after the 1000s of samples we have examined this year. Some of them really took to this assignment and created thoughtful inferential questions. Others offered up the easiest multiple choice questions I have ever seen. I thought this activity would help them gain a different perspective on the test. They were confused at the start, but slowly created and discussed some key text features. I am not worried about this section of kids. It's some of my others who have been floundering all year I'm really worried about.

They can read. They can write. They are beginning to develop key critical thinking skills. They will be able to express themselves and listen and respond to important works and speech- but they may not receive a 3 on this stupid, one day examination of their knowledge for the past 7 years. I guess I am a little more nervous than I thought. Ideas?