One of my year 11s...

I've noticed recently that a lot of my status updates and conversations start with "One of my Year 11s.."
Usually it's a funny thing that one of the kids has said or something they have done to make my day - I think because I've had them through from last year and this year I've been able to develop a really close relationship with them and I love that!

Yesterday it was SK's turn to make my status update.  ((To give a little background, SK is a 16 year old boy who is in bottom set in school and has had some real behavioural issues particularly involving gangs and gang rivalry with a Czech gang in the local neighbourhood.  He's not very academic and last year was moved down to my class because his behaviour was so disruptive that they couldn't keep him in the set above.  His home life isn't great - Mum is a prostitute and his Dad is in prison for killing his Uncle last year, and this has obvious impacts on him and his brothers and sisters.))

Anyway, yesterday afternoon we were all sitting around a couple of desks working on a bit of Pythagoras' Theorem and one of the other boys asked me if I would be annoyed if I saw them in 10 years and they were on more money than me, and I said, quite honestly I think, that I'd just be over the moon that they'd done so well for themselves.  Anyway, thinking that was the end of it I carried on working with the student I was helping and next thing I know SK is telling me "If I ever get dead rich I'd buy you a house Miss Hex, cause you're proper sound and the best teacher I've ever had."

At first I thought he was being facetious but he backed it up and took all the flak off the other kids who laughed at this pronouncement.  I felt like hugging him.  I know it's ridiculous, but the moments like that make me love these kids so much more, and make every day so worthwhile.  And with SK in particular, he has made such a turnaround this year in his attitude in my lessons and the way he interacts with the other students.

To top it off, today my head of department came and found me to chat about how my observation lesson had gone yesterday and pointed out that I should be really proud of the way things have gone with my two Year 11 classes because they are full of difficult kids who won't work for other people but for some reason are getting on and doing work for me.  Now I still have so many things to learn about teaching, and I am so far from being the best teacher I can be, but I know I have done a really good job with these kids who make me so proud every day in the way they treat each other, in the work they produce, and the way they are maturing and becoming these little adults.

And so I am probably going to continue with these stories about 'one of my year 11s' and keep posting status updates about them, and in 10 years time who knows, maybe I'll look back and remember those mental kids that made my first 2 years of teaching such a pleasure!