"Yes, Ma'am"

Today I went on an adventure by myself and it was the perfect way to spend the Saturday after my first week at College Park Middle School.  After sleeping in until 10 in the morning, I drove to the South Carolina Aquarium. But it was not just the regular old aquarium, it was the Scary'um Aquarium.  The exhibits were filled with scary Halloween props, which was fun. The main attraction was an albino alligator that didn't really move much but was still amazing to look at. 

When I was done at the aquarium, I drove back to the center of town: Meeting Street and the market.  I ended up buying a Tervis mug for all the coffee and water I will be drinking as a teacher.  Then I wandered down Broad Street and ended up at Waterfront Park.  I sat on a bench and read for awhile.  This is the view I had from my spot.  Be jealous Ohioans. :) 

I wandered some more around the city going into shops and stopping at Belgian Gelato.  It gave me that much needed flavor of chocolate. I had to practically force myself to leave downtown because I love it there so much.  I discovered many new places today.  Burger Babies on King Street is another good place to eat.  I went there on Tuesday.  


Coming down to South Carolina has been an adjustment.  I got so attached to my 5th graders and my coworkers at Erwine and I'm sure that has something to do with how difficult this adjustment has been.  There is nothing wrong with the location, I absolutely love it here as you can obviously tell, the adjustments have to do with how the schools are in this state.  I don't mean this in a bad way; they are just so different from the schools that I have attended and the schools I have worked in.  


One of the positive changes is that students down here are very respectful of teachers and all adults for that matter.  There is never a time when the word "yes" is not followed by the word "ma'am."  That is something we never hear in Ohio.  I have never used it either; I wasn't even 100% sure how to spell it until I looked it up to write this blog post.  Students still misbehave like they do everywhere else, but when you tell them to do something, they do not argue.  It is followed by a "Yes, Ma'am!"  I'm afraid I will grow accustomed to hearing it and I will be in for reverse culture shock when and if I go home to teach in Ohio.  This is one of the things I love the most about teaching in this state.  


There are other differences between schools in South Carolina and Ohio, but I will get to them later.  For now I just want to say that I love how polite these kids are, and I hope it makes my job easier by resulting in less class disruptions so that students are able to learn something during my time here.