My favorite Student/ 7th graders are Schizophrenic

So, when I first saw this blog topic I had the perfect student in mind. No doubt, I had an absolute favorite student. But just two weeks later, I'm at a loss for who my favorite student could be. Alas, my favorite student is no more... (she's not dead or lost or anything, she's just not my favorite anymore). The reason I still decided to write on this topic is because I think the loss of my favorite student is quite representative of my life as a middle-school teacher and the ups and downs of the students who I teach. I really did have a favorite student. Even when all the other students were bugging me and I didn't want to be around kids I still welcomed her presence. She would stop my door between every class to say hi and we would walk to break together, and she just gave me hope. I won't say that I no longer like her. But after I had to yell at her a couple of times for talking too much in class or not listening, our relationship has changed. She no longer hangs around like she used to, and I no longer expect her to.

I've learned to deal with these sudden changes of emotions. Both on my part and my students. One moment everything can be fine and dandy and then something happens and I have to change gears. One minute, one student could be annoying the hell out of me and then someone else will say something so funny that I just have to laugh. Or a student will see that I'm upset and give me a hug. Along the sam vein, I constantly have to be prepared for the up and down emotions of my kids. One minute they'll be angry, then crying, then trying to give you a hug or saying they'll buy you a present. The kids you end up really liking are the ones who you know what to expect from, good or bad. Predictable students are relatively easy. Its the 85% who are extremely unpredictable that get you every now and then, because you never know what kind of person they're going to be on any given day. For instance, the day that I had to yell at my "favorite student" I was possibly more upset with her than any other student that day who is disruptive on a normal basis, mostly because I was completely unprepared to have to discipline her that way.

I always think its hilarious when students comment on how they can't stand dealing with all their different types of teachers. I'm like..hello...you only have to deal with 5 different personalities each day, and at least you know who's gonna have which personality. I have to deal with 137 different personalities that have different owners depending on the day or hour. It makes it hard to adjust. I hope that someday, soon, I'll reach some sort of equilibrium where I'm better able to deal with the schizophrenic nature of 7th graders. But for now, I'm just living amongst the crazies.