The Classroom is Fun .... Kids are AMAZING!

I love the classroom. I began at MS 181 yesterday, and I have already had valuable experiences that will follow me for the rest of my life. I will share a few that stand out here.

First, during the social studies lesson studies were supposed to be reading a passage followed by review questions. One student was sleeping so I calmly went over and told him he could not sleep in class. I walked away, he went back to sleep. Next, I went over and made him read the passage to me, followed by him giving a brief synopsis in his words. I found the kid was extremely bright. The teachers during the year simply did not know how to refocus him when he misbehaved.

Second, I found out that one of my students is one of ten siblings and is in foster-care. She expressed how she felt destined for failure. Of course, we had a long talk and many will follow.

Third, the students wanted to know my age, and I responded 25.

Fourth, in attempting to set me up with their other favorite teacher 2 students wanted to know whether I was a virgin. My response … “we will not talk about that” …. They replied .. “Mr. Cooper is mad cool”

Fifth, my AP (assistant principal) told me to stop wearing ties … “get down with them … let them know you their brother” – lol J I don’t know about the brother part … but I will convert to polos.

In conclusion, sorry I didn’t share much about teaching but my overall goal is to create a love for learning. However, though we are having fun in the classroom – I also know the students are learning stuff they had not before – and probably would not if I did not allow some time for fun during instruction.