Thiiiiiis is why I do it...

I have a degree in journalism, and while I loved my art, it didn't satisfy me. I had worked with children since I was a young teen, and I thought kids were pretty cool. Why not use my journalistic knowledge to teach writing? Might as well throw in some Shakespeare, or classics, or women's lit in there while I'm at it and be an English teacher, right?

And so I am. There are days when a kid threatens to throw a desk at me, days when parents seem reluctant to help their children succeed, policies I haven't totally agreed with, and those kids who just slip through the cracks and have a dark, uncertain future, no matter how hard you try to save them. I had one of each of those last year, and there were many days when I went, "WHY do I do this for this little money again?"

But this year...this year is different. It is my best year of teaching, believe it or not, since my first year when I had an amazing class. The biggest, most disastrous event of my life happened that first year, and it was still a million times better than my 4th year. I spent much of last year disgruntled, but this year is so different. I'm...blissful, dare I say it.

One of the things that leads to this bliss is teaching journalism for the first time. I've always run media club, but this is the first time I get it as a course. I'm co-teaching with a friend of mine, which makes it even better. I'm the writer, she's the photo artist. We're a perfect blend.

Our class is a dozen seniors, all with learning differences. Some have a difference as small as ADHD, others have Asperger's, most have written language difficulties.

Most of them were 8th graders back in that first year. Some of them were in my very first class. Maybe they just hold very special places in my heart automatically.

Barely any of them can write well, let alone read. And yet, we've made them LOVE journalism. None of them chose this elective; they were thrown into it.

Maybe it's the crazy stories I tell from my days as a journalism student and professional to illustrate how and why procedures and rules of journalism exist. Maybe it's the two teachers who love their art forms and are friends outside of the classroom. Maybe it's a good time of day. They have only study hall after us, and homeroom and lunch before us...no pressure. Maybe it's the loose structure that every journalism class has. Maybe it's the do what you love and love what you do atmosphere we're setting up. Maybe it's the little perks, like knowing what happens first, and the press passes I'm making for them. Maybe it's Groovy Friday, our new tradition wherein we play music (Michael Jackson, Women of the '80s, old school hip hop, classic rock....) while they work on Fridays if they've been good all week. Maybe it's a budding of school pride. Maybe it's the way we praise them for almost everything they come up with. Maybe our enthusiasm is just that infectious. Whatever it is, they are loving it.

Whatever it is, it is an amazing sight.

We announced our editorial board this week, and our editor and managing editor are true leaders. One is quiet with a dry sense of humor and is student body president. The other is, well, the kitten in the kangaroo pocket girl in the entry below this one. Both are goofy and easy-going, and seem to be taking their jobs seriously. I was so proud of them. They handled one moody student very well at first, were encouraging, and the girl didn't want that. But they worked better with her today than they have in the past. Our photo editor spent a lot of time quietly working to sort through ID photos, rename them, and sort them into grade-level folders. They excitedly scheduled interviews, some even snagged their first ones today! Our news editor is probably going to snag an interview with the new Archbishop. WOW! Who would have thought that one of our kids could do that, huh, naysayers? Some of them even gave up study hall to finish some work. Study hall, last period on a Friday, where they probably were just hanging out, and they chose to come to work.

I didn't want class to end today. Of course, it was also Groovy Friday.

But it made me remember, "Oh yeah. THIS is why I do this."