Halfway to Halfway: 5 Takeaways [Youth Ministry & Getting My Middle School Education Degree]
It’s October 21?!? I just finished my first rotation of interning for this semester in an ELA (English Language Arts) classroom with 8th grade students. That means I am halfway to halfway through senior year! Today, I started in a Social Studies classroom with 7th grade students. Basically, it’s like I got another first day of school!
This year is already flying by, and in the seven weeks I just spent in my first rotation, here are some things I want to remember:
1. Learn about your students but also let your students learn about you. A student (who speaks English) decided to talk to me in Spanish one day for some reason. Without even thinking about it, I accidentally responded with “eshi,” which means “okay” in Amharic, one of the primary languages of Ethiopia. Her very confused face was priceless. But because of that, I got to share with my students that I serve in Ethiopia and am going there in May. That slip of Amharic gave students a little glimpse into my life and a way to connect with ME personally!
2. Names really are everything. Because of scheduling and conflicts, I was only with students about 5 times in this first rotation. My top priority in those five class periods? Learning the names of my Period 1 and Period 2 classes. I’ll have these students again in the Spring for about two months every day, and I am hoping that the foundation of knowing their names and just a bit about each of them now will allow me to build relationships with them more easily when I am with them consistently in the Spring.
3. I really do love grading. So weird, right? And I’ve made it known to both of my mentor teachers—which I am sure means I have lots of grading coming my way between now and May! I also get to use my Paper Mate Flair pens in all the colors, and that just makes me happy.
4. Greeting your students outside of your classroom door (or the door to your youth ministry environment) is a game changer. It communicates you are present and ready to engage with them, instead of preparing for the class period or your youth group. And maybe just maybe, it will change the mindset of a student who is just not feeling it that day to feel encouraged and seen because you greeted them before they even set foot in your classroom.
5. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to get a middle schooler to like you. Other times it does, though. I don’t know if it’s because I am not too much older than them or the fact that I genuinely love middle schoolers and maybe they can tell—but after only five class periods spent with these students in my first rotation, they are already asking when I am coming back to their classroom to be their teacher in the Spring and that they’ll miss me. So sweet, right? I’m hoping and praying and really hoping that sweetness will continue when I come back to their class and am teaching them full-time next semester… Stay tuned about that!
These are my takeaways! And now I want to hear from you. What’s one takeaway from this school year so far that YOU have from working with middle schoolers, whether it’s in a school or in a youth ministry environment?