Miss Love: The Football Teacher

I sub at a K-8 school, and for most of the first semester I pretended that it was only K-5. 

Why?

Because the idea of ever being in charge of middle schoolers terrified me. 

I had ZERO experience working with them, hated middle school when I was in it, and was reminded several times by other elementary teachers at the school that  seventh grade was by far the worst grade to sub. 

I thought that was because middle schoolers were vicious, never listened to directions, didn't respect authority, and probably grew little horns filled with hormones under bushels of frizzy hair.

I'll go ahead and admit I was harsh and wrong.

Later in the Fall, I got adventurous and took a couple of sixth grade jobs that ended up being ok. But I put my foot down at any grade higher than that.

One day in January, though, I was getting desperate to sub again (thanks to Christmas break and FAR too many snow days) and in a moment of brash desperation, I took a job in seventh grade.

And I actually enjoyed it.

Since then I've taken a few more middle school jobs and learned that, while middle school isn't a walk in the park, it's really not terrible a lot of the time. You just have to know a few things. 

Things I learned about subbing middle schoolers

My mantra is be yourself, but don't be yourself. I have to be the confident version of myself with appropriate amounts of humor and sass. Kids listen if they think you can make them laugh.

Middle schoolers want to impress their friends, not the teacher and especially not the sub. You have to work your way up to getting hello's in the hallway. It's ok. It's not because you aren't pretty and awesome.

When you do get a hello in the hallway, treasure it.

It's very hard to keep middle schoolers quiet unless they have work to finish. When threatened with leftover work to take home, they will be quieter than any elementary class you've ever encountered. 

EVER.

Sixth graders are cute, seventh graders are funny, and eighth graders think they're at the top of the food chain.

The same jokes I used in middle school are still funny in middle school today and may continue to be funny for decades of middle schoolers to come. 

They still love Heads Up Seven Up.

On top of all that, my key to success is this chart: 

I took this photo on a day in fourth grade, but you get the idea.

I call it "The Football Chart".

The rules are simple.

If the students are quiet, get their work done, and don't bother each other, I will move the "football" toward their side every few minutes. After five downs, they will get a touchdown, and each touchdown for them results in five minutes of free time at the end of class. If they aren't behaving, the football will move towards my side, and each touchdown for me results in their pain and humiliation at being beaten by a sub.

I don't know why it works so well, but ever since I started using it in any classroom, it's made magic. 

"QUIET, guys! She's gonna get a touchdown!"

"Miss Love gave us another point! Shhh!"

I don't even have to yell.

Thanks to this chart, when kids don't remember my name, they don't just call me "China lady", they also call me "The Football Teacher".

The most important thing I've learned so far about working with middle schoolers--and any age--is not to take anything personally. 

For example:

Today I subbed for the music teacher, who goes from class to class. I rolled my music cart to a room of seventh graders I'd had before, feeling pretty smug and cool because a couple of kids said hi to me in the hallway. 

Then...the video I had to show them was poor quality and the sound didn't work right, so they spent the 45-minute class period ignoring me while I told them to be quiet. 

Some days you win, some days you lose. 

That's part of being a teacher in ANY grade. 

In approximately a week, I will be a short-term middle school teacher in another country.

Guess who never saw THAT coming?

(Ooo! Me! Me! Pick me!)

Thankfully I have a small reserve of knowledge to draw on now--though I may have to find something more culturally appropriate than my current chart to monitor classroom behavior. 

I don't want to know what "The Football Teacher" is in Mongolian.