The school kids

What a long strange trip it’s been. As I type this, I am well into my 27th year teaching middle school. When I started way back in 1995, I figured I would do this for a few years and then grow up and get a different job/career somewhere. Heck, all middle school teachers are crazy right? Remember adolescence? Sure, I know what you’re thinking and I agree: I would never want to live through that again.

I live through it every September. It’s weird, but I don’t feel like I am aging or that years are passing when I look at my life through the lens of school. Each fall, the kids sitting in front of me are 10. Each year, I am one year older but it seems like in the classroom time is frozen. Fall? That’s history of American music, the blues, and songwriting. Winter? Time for rap, hip-hop, sampling, rhythm and The Beatles….and on and on.

When I look at the time and compare it to the world though it is strange. Here’s what I mean:

• NO kid I have right now has any memory of 9/11. None of them were born
• NO kid I have right now knows what it felt like to watch our first African American president sworn in. They weren’t born.
• Who was Hillary Clinton again?
• What’s Hurricane Katrina?
• Wait…The NE Patriots used to be bad?
• Oh, I don’t read Harry Potter and I haven’t seen the movies. That’s really old.
• What do you mean there wasn’t wireless? How did you get online?
• What’s y2k?
• What’s Obamacare?
• Is Superstorm Sandy a Marvel character?
• Who BUYS music? That’s really lame.

But, it’s also pretty cool when I explain to my classes about racism in music and our society and they look on blankly and ask questions like: “Why would anyone be so stupid as to not let everyone go to the same school?” OR “Who cares if someone is gay? It’s pretty awful to judge anyone about that stuff.”

Bravo kids. We are making progress. I also still have hope and a sense of humor in my class. Those of you that know me, know that I am quick to joke and laughter is my armor, defense mechanism and general way of dealing with life. If you don’t laugh, you cry right? I choose the first one. Some kids get my sense of humor, while others need an explanation. I may tell a class that their brains are wet clay in my hands, to mold, sculpt and shape. Just when something awesome is emerging, I squash it down and wreck their dreams. Trust me, they know I’m kidding. I can’t even mold clay…

It IS heartwarming to know that a few youngsters already share a humorous healthy view of the world. Two awesome 7th graders purchased the mug in the photo below. They were cracking up as they came to my desk:

“Mr. Moeschen. We saw this and thought of you. This mug describes how you feel about us perfectly.”

Bravo to the future. We are ok.

Stay awesome, stay safe and stay tuned.