"She talks to me and be nice"

Today, TFA had us give our students a survey that asks questions about our classroom environment, what they think of us as a teacher, etc. I've been feeling like I've been letting kids get away with too much talking and not being as immediate or consistent with consequences as I could be. Don't get me wrong, my classroom management is light-years ahead of where it was when I taught before (when I had students running around the room waving paintbrushes). My kids shut up when I need them to and take notes when I tell them to and pay attention (most of the time), but if Teach for America teaches you anything it's to constantly ask "What could I be doing better?"

Anyway, so I wasn't sure what kinds of responses I'd get from kids on the surveys. I told them they could leave their names off if they wanted to be anonymous, and stressed that we just wanted them to be honest. So, I was happy to get responses that were pretty much positive across the board. It's one thing to have someone observe your classroom and leave you an encouraging note. That's nice of course, and having people in and out of my room every day leaving such notes has been a real confidence booster, but ultimately you aren't there for the people observing you. Hearing some of the things my students wrote was just really encouraging and the best reinforcement of why I'm teaching in the first place. I honestly didn't expect to be able to have much of an impact on kids in three weeks, and although obviously I'm not going to pretend I've altered their entire academic trajectory, seeing even just one kid write that they think I've taught them a lot...I mean, yeah. Just humbling and powerful and makes me incredibly excited to meet my kids in Charlotte...who I'll get for a whole semester!

But anyway, I thought I'd share some of the responses that made me the proudest and happiest.

"Mrs. Anderson I like you. You are a good teacher and I learned more than I did when I was in school."

What has your teacher done to help you know how to behave?

"Just told me How to act and I act that way."
"Talk respectfully to us."
"Nothing cause I am respectful anyways" [Got several responses along these lines. My students apparently have very high opinions of their own behavior.]

"This teacher is a good irreplaceable teacher." [Check out this vocab!! Spelled right, too!!]

How do you know how much your teacher cares or doesn't care?
"Because she wouldn't be here helping me pass."

I didn't think I'd get attached to these kids so quickly, but as much as I can't wait to get the heck out of Mississippi and back to North Carolina, I'm gonna miss these kids a lot.