Bringing mischief and magic is a top objective in my teaching style.
The mischief that I brought this past Friday was to celebrate our last day of school before the long awaited Christmas break. Here is a breakdown: 1. Dressing Up as Mrs. Claus: I've had my red wrap dress for several years now, it was one of three dollar thrift-store scores. The fabric is soft and it's the perfect Christmas red. I jazzed up the outfit by beheading two Santa hats and using the voluptuous white puffs as accents on the tails of my wrap ties. This safety pinned addition earned my the innocently proclaimed compliment, "I love your Santa Balls"! 2. Trap Christmas Music: I played a trap version of the classic "Here Comes Santa Clause". Click here to experience the magic. I played it as I pushed my "sleigh" (my rolling teacher cart) into the classroom. As I entered the room, I began to dance and the kids instinctively knew to join in (dancing is a common occurrence during my teaching period). 3. Sugar Buffet: I am an advocate of a healthy diet on a regular day; however, it's Christmas, it's the last day of the first semester, and we're in a freaking pandemic. Eat that cupcake. 4. Mario Kart Tournament: Two of my students brought in their Nintendo Switches so that we could indulge in some friendly competition. We hooked up the game systems to the projectors that usually display lecture notes and set up the bracket. I didn't make it very deep into the competition, but I am proud to say that Ms. Montoya can still hold her own on a game system (thank you, to my inner-gamer). For the entire day, the joy was palpable. Everyone was excited to head into Christmas break, but I think that the real reason the day was so magical was because the kids were given an opportunity to celebrate. Covid has brought anxiety, isolation, and changes. And, I have seen the effect it has had on my middle schoolers. They have been "heavier"; therefore, it was so good to be silly with them and to bring some joy during this Christmas season. It was so fun to bring some magic and mischief to my kids. I hope you can do the same during your own Christmas, which is bound to be different this time around. But hey, different is good...it pushes us into the new and encourages some creativity...all you need is some "Santa Balls".
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 Smiling. Pretending my middle schoolers aren't losing their damn minds. It's fine. I'm fine. Ho, Ho, Ho. Do you want to know what a fresh can of chaos feels like? Well, step into any middle school the week before Christmas break.
This week marks the last week of the first semester of school and it is arguably the most difficult week of the year. By this time of the year, teachers are exhausted and kids are done pretending to care about rules and protocols. In fact, they seem ready to rebel and equipped to further exhaust their teachers into oblivion. Here are a few things that have already happened this week...and it's only Tuesday. 1) I had a student greet me on Monday morning saying, "Good Morning, Ms. Montoya! Guess what I did this weekend?". He made his greeting down a long hallway and I smiled brightly at him and said, "Well, good morning! Sounds like you had a good weekend. What did you do?". It was by this time that we crossed paths down that long strip of hallway and he said, "I shaved my eyebrows!". Sure enough he did. He stopped me in my tracks as we now stood there three feet apart from each other. I tried to retain my smiling eyes before I asked my next question, which was, "Oh, what inspired that?". He beamed with confidence and merely shrugged his shoulders...then continued walking my opposite direction. I was half mortified and half inspired. 2) Long chains are a trend right now; and you know who loves a trend? Middle schoolers. Several of my middle school boys have been sporting long gold and silver chains. I'll have to admit, some of them are looking pretty flossy, especially my latino students with their nameplates and shining "Virgen de Guadelupe" pieces. However, today's chain was far from flossy. While teaching a lesson on annotating, I did my usual walk about the room while I covered material on the projector screen. This gives me an opportunity to check on the kids' engagement as well as their note-taking skills. As I did my round about and spoke about annotating unknown vocabulary, I spotted one of my students across the room distracted by his sternum length silver chain. He was fidgeting with what looked like a medallion on the end. So, instead of calling him out in front of the class, I calmly walked over to his desk while continuing to lecture in hopes to get him back engaged. I calmly tapped his desk and whispered, "Hey, let's stop playing with your fly medallion and let's take some notes.". He looked at me, slightly embarrassed that he has been addressed and said, "Miss...it's not a medallion...it's my King Soopers card.". Sure enough, it was. A long silver chain with a red King Soopers reward card on the end. I stood corrected. 3) Bathroom humor is high humor in middle school...so is anything remotely sexual. Today, I had a sixth grader making suggestive noises (queue female moaning sounds) while at recess. It was high-pitched, it cut the air, it carried across the 50 yard blacktop, and like a dog whistle it caught my attention. We caught eyes and I forced his eye-contact until I made it all the way across that 50 yard expanse. I saw his expression move from elation to terror. He knew the sound was inappropriate and I informed him that if he did it again, I was going to have him replicate it for our principle in his office. Let's just say, I didn't hear it again. It's only Tuesday. And, I assure you, these will not be the only cans of chaos opened this week.  Check out the updates on the Poetry and Art page. You'll stumble across visuals that remind me of the beauty of everyday life.          I am a romantic; it carries over to the way someone I love underlines their book. What they underline reveals our commonalities, our differences, and the inner workings of the lover's mind. Your annotations expose yourself to me. I love them.
 Selfie with "my kids". Class of 2018, I miss them!  Can I get an AMEN? Can I get a Hallelujah!  Classrooms should be beautiful; a place of inspiration, fun, and awe.  Middle School dances don't have to be awkward.  Yes, I did rent costumes to host a Mock Trail for "my kids". It was awesome and the kids did amazing.  This.....is middle school. "My kids"; it's a phrase I use repetitiously and without thinking. I'll drop the phrase leisurely in conversations and it is often met with the question, "Oh, how old are your children?". That question snaps me out of the moment and and I smile, realizing that talking about my students as "my kids" could be a source of confusion at a happy hour with strangers. "My kids" are my students and I love them as such.
In fact, I think this maternal adoption is the source of my success as a teacher. Middle schoolers are raw and wild. They move and think impulsively. They are attention seeking and as malleable as sponges. And guess what? Guess who they want attention and love from? You, their teacher. The teacher should be student centered. Focused on the student's individual needs, and I'm not primarily speaking about their academic needs. No, I'm new school. I think the priority is the person. How are they feeling? Whats the mood of the room? Are they feeling seen? Are they experiencing and seeing beauty? Is there excess energy and too much stagnation? Are they having fun? Are they experiencing joy, gratitude, and innovation? How can I make this lesson fun? How can I make this a memorable experience? Because, learning is comprised of memorable experiences. These questions have formed my teaching style and they shape my daily planning and decision making. These questions have pushed me away from the traditional practices of daily homework, archaic grading that is molded by rubrics, excessive testing without feedback and opportunity for expression of knowledge, an over-emphasis on discipline and blind obedience, a bland and prison-like classroom that lacks beauty and fun, and finally (and most importantly) a concern for what is easiest for me. These questions have formed my desire to create fun and whimsy in my daily lessons. It has inspired me to invoke my inner entertainer and to be goofy for the kids...whether that means dawning a costume or transforming the set-up of the room. Being a student centered teacher has allowed me to be a mentor and to spend my recesses playing pick-up basketball, instead of sitting on the sidelines looking at my phone. I eat my lunches with the kids. I ask them about their evenings, their favorite songs, the newest tik-tok dances, and how they are feeling. I daily look to find the fun. I take them outside to perform skits, I turn a vocabulary lesson into a game, I set up an intricate mock trail so they can understand To Kill A Mockingbird better. I spend hours decorating for them to awkwardly avoid each other at the middle school dance. I'm the biggest dancer at those dances, not only because I love to dance, but because if you show them its okay to be ridiculous then they buy into it. I teach them social skills like handshaking and eye contact and how to hold small talk while you ''keep the holy spirit" between you two during the slow dance. I teach them how to salsa, embrace the sway of their hips, and to love their bodies. I plan whole school events and play the ring master because I believe that each school day should not only have some fun, but have some magic. I volunteer to coach the basketball team, because they have no parent-volunteer and. I want them to play. I come to work in my colorful thrift store outfits and gold hoops to show them the beauty in self-expression and self-confidence. Everything I do at my job is student centered. It is why I am there. I am there to cultivate a community, provide a place of nurturing and growth, and to show them that life is good and fun. They are "my kids". I love them....past, present, future. |
AuthorBrianna is a proud native of West Denver and she is an avid admirer of the arts. Her admiration of the arts is centered around her draw toward the beautiful and good of everyday life. Brianna finds beauty in a well-worn book, in the eclectic colors and textures of a thrift store find, and in the sound of a killer guitar solo whether it be live or through a well thought out Spotify playlist. Her passions are varied and many, but they all center on appreciating the fullness of life. Archives
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