From middle school to...middle school?

Some photos are just always awkward... 

Photos like ones before a middle school Girl Scout father daughter dance when your mom must have insisted on a prom-like stance...or your annual yearbook photo. (Yes, even as a teacher I still have to get one done each year - crazy...)

Case in point - though, thankfully, this time my yearbook photo isn't as awkward as years gone by:

It makes me laugh to think about how I got to where I am because, let's face it, teaching middle school was never on my radar as far as I can recall. (Who wants to teach hormonal teenagers and preteens?) I fall flat on my face (metaphorically speaking) every single day. I sometimes feel like I can never get things done because chances are someone will get a bloody nose, or fall out of a chair, or feel the need to comment on everything anyone else says, or make faces to get a classmate to laugh. (Yes, all of these happen more frequently than you might expect.)

And yet, they get my corny humor. They have real and deep conversations about their faith (even though there are often 50 superficial ones in between). They ask amazing questions. And, for the most part, they work really hard.

I love them - every. single. one. of. them, quirks and all. Middle school is an awkward time, let's face it, embrace it, and shoot for the best year yet!

Calling all Catholic school teachers and youth ministers...

Finished a good, timely read on Saturday - Room 24 by Katie Prejean. What stuck out to me most about this book were the quotes and anecdotes by her students as well as her own thoughts about ministering (in a school setting) to teens and young adults. For almost the entirety of the book my head and heart were screaming "me too!" 

Trust me, if you work with teenagers in a Catholic school or youth ministry setting, you should get your hands on this - it's poignant and hysterical at the same time. And it's a quick read so you can read a few pages here and there between grading and lesson planning...

Here are some of my favorite parts:

"To teach Jesus is to conform ourselves, and help to form others, into 'little Christs' who go out and share the Good News. People are not easily transformed by ideas and concepts alone. They are far more often transformed by other people." (p. 23)

"When we constrict ourselves to scheduled teaching on its own rather than actively living what we believe, we can become blathering drones losing sight of the greater mission." (p. 78)

"As humble evangelizers, we should be pointing not to ourselves but to Christ. This is humility in its most concentrated form. We seek not to advance ourselves but to advance the work of the Lord." (p. 108) <-- There are lots of opportunity for humility as a middle school teacher. This was a good reminder. Kids have a way of making sure you don't stay too proud of anything... (Check out the Litany of Humility, which the author explains kept popping up when she needed it the most. It's a good one.)

"Student: I'm only fourteen, Miss P. As of right now, my life plan is just to get to heaven." (p. 127)

"My mom used to say that being a teacher was the hardest job in the world, not because the pay was low or the kids were bad but because at the end of the school year you'd have to say goodbye and you never knew how they would turn out." (P. 128) <-- This quote probably hit home the most, especially as many of us teachers are preparing for graduations.

Katie Prejean also talks a lot about how her students always notice far more than she ever realizes. Similar realizations have occurred in my classroom this year too, most recently on Friday, when, upon going outside to return a student's fruit snacks that I had confiscated during class (Could he have picked a quieter packaging choice to try to sneak in?), a group of 8th grade girls stopped me and said, "I really like your outfit today. I noticed it in class and meant to tell you." Well, if that don't beat all - I tell people that you really know you've "made it" in terms of fashion when you get complimented by an 8th grade girl. (They're usually so hard to please in that department!)

All kidding aside, the book reminded me that the whole teaching about God thing is more than one person's job. I may not see the effects of anything take hold while the students remain in my care, but I have to hope and believe that somewhere down the line at least one thing we studied or learned or prayed about will sink in.

For all those who teach (especially at the middle and high school level), keep doing an amazing job! You're planting seeds - scatter them abundantly for you never know where or when they'll blossom...


P.S. Happy Mother's Day weekend to all moms, moms-to-be, and women who seem/act like moms! It was a beautiful weekend (weather-wise) for all those who were out and about brunching and celebrating. Spring has sprung in Chicago!

Called to Be Childlike

It's impossible not to notice that in the recent Sunday Gospel passages (October 4, September 27, & September 20, to name a few) Jesus focuses his followers on being childlike (not childish). Yes, children - they rely on their parents to provide for them so they don't have to worry, and they accept faith without reservation (and without letting limited human knowledge try to reason out and prove everything God has done).

So, if the disciples and others didn't get the message the first time, Jesus tried again...and again...

Being a middle school religion teacher, I'm at a crossroads with my students - it's the time of their lives when many of them start leaving their childlike faith for one where, instead, they try to fit God into a box, so to speak. (He doesn't belong in a box, by the way - He's too big for that.) In fact, a large percentage of my 8th graders are probably at a point where they think they know everything, or, if they don't, they at least feel like they need to sound like they have all the answers.

But there are some that are holding on to that childlike faith...

The students just finished their first unit of the year on prayer and the Mass. Their culminating project was to create a children's picture book about prayer - it could be informational (just the "facts") or it could actually be a story that illustrates the ideas behind prayer and having a relationship with God. About 80% of students chose the former format (which was undoubtedly the easier way to go), but the remaining ones opted for the latter. What resulted was incredible - these 13 and 14 year olds crafted stories that could probably only be told by children:

- One girl told the story of a young child who had a special relationship with her grandfather; she would call him, text him, write him, and draw him pictures, depending on how it best felt to talk to him that day. At times she would forget or not have time to call him, and she would feel sad. But, when she finally would pick up the phone again, she would only have to ask him to forgive her, and he would do so because he loved her. (Wow.)

- Another girl told the story of a young boy who planted a seed. He watered it and talked to it, but other kids made fun of him. So, after a time, he neglected it; the plant withered and shriveled up. The boy felt sad. He was sorry, and he tried to take care of the plant after a time...and it started to grow back. Eventually, a flower blossomed, and then many more did too. In the "epilogue" my student explained what everything in the story represented. (Again, wow.)

- One student wrote of a boy who was sick and dying from a disease. As his health deteriorated, so did his faith. At the end of his life, he ended up turning back to God, who welcomed him into heaven with open arms, praising the boy for his courage and faith. In this student's epilogue, she explained how everyone from time to time has challenges with his/her own faith, yet God remains there for us, waiting to welcome us back with open arms. (Holy cow - most adults have a hard time putting such things into words.)

There were other stories like these too. What a wonderful living and breathing example of what it means to be childlike as the Gospels have pointed out.

Again, Jesus is trying to tell us something. Let us be open to seeing as children see and entering into a relationship that is completely dependent on God.