There's a cat in the WHERE?!

Middle school is really funny. Middle schoolers are even funnier! Since I've been doing my practicum at Elkridge Middle School, I have discovered this. I have also gained a heck of a lot of respect for these crazy teachers and administrators that do it everyday. I am sure once I student teach it will be more of an eye opening experience.

Well, today after I finished teaching a good 3 class periods, it was time for me to leave and go back to P-Town. I had fun with my last class, so it ended on a good note. We joked and I taught them how to sound smart by saying "what is that distant tintinnabulation I hear?" whenever they heard a bell ringing.

I went to the office to sign out and I sat down to wait for the wonderful Courtney so that we could ride back together and I heard a commotion going on with the administrators. So, because I am polite, yet curious, I looked down at my phone and caught up on all of my e-mails while I listened to the women chatting. They were talking about a cat being stuffed in a locker. I was surprised, so I stopped to make sure I didn't hear wrong, but sure enough, there was most definitely a live cat that they found in someone's locker! I stared straight ahead and a lady came out and told me what they found. I acted surprised, naturally, and asked to see the cat. There it was, a fully grown cat that had been stuffed in some 7th grade girl's backpack and stuffed in her locker.

I mean, seriously, I wanted to bring my cat to school when I was little, but I was never gutsy enough to bring one. I don't know if I admire the girl or think she's crazy! That poor cat...ha!

Teenage Dream

When I was in high school I thought that I was the coolest person around. I thought I knew everything and anyone who told me otherwise was OBVIOUSLY wrong. I am now coaching high schoolers in swimming and I have realized how hilarious I must have been as a teenager. I have classed teenagers into 3 different categories.

1. Drama Queens/Divas/Divos/etc.

One swimmer on this high school team is the definition of a divo. He has to have all the attention and everyone has to know how tired, sore, in pain he is because he is working the absolute hardest out of anyone. If something hurts he takes it to the extreme. Once he came up to the other coach and me and told us his scapula was ripping apart from his spine. Another time he told us his esophagus was severed or that he was coughing up blood. It was great really, but he was quite serious about it. When he works hard he gets this look on his face where his eyebrows furrow together, his lips pucker out and his cheeks puff out with every breath sounding quite strained. So hilarious.

2. I'm too tough for you

I have had many a swimmer that claims they don't need help and they can do it on their own. False. They are apparently too cool for school, I guess. These swimmers have presented a problem because they don't really try to learn, they think they can do it all on their own. These teenagers can be quite funny as well because they basically show us who is right in the long run...aka the instructor/teacher/swim coach/etc. Teenagers like this are actually my favorite because I have become really good at breaking them down, humbling them, and seeing their true personality.

3. I need my mommy

These swimmers are generally the same as the too tough for you swimmers in that they have the same attitude toward instruction, but they break down easier because really they just want attention and their mommy. I spent a whole practice yesterday being a mommy to a sick boy, 3 girls who didn't want to do their work, and a boy who severely injured his "jewels" with a pull buoy. I was going back and forth between all of these teenagers giving them the attention they desperately called for. Teenagers are very attention desperate. As my mom would say, up until I left the house, when I was upset: "What? Is your attention meter low again? Let's fill it up." This obviously didn't make my pride feel better, but it made me feel better in the long run.