Middle School Boys' backpacks

The title should be scary enough! Oh my goodness. Boys in middle school have some NASTY backpacks!

I went through two backpacks today. It is hard for me to understand how in the world a person can just shove papers into a backpack without caring what happens once those papers are inside the backpack. The term "black hole" really does apply to some cases.

The first backpack was pretty scary. There was a stack of paper and folders and garbage at least 4-5 inches tall. At LEAST. We didn't get the chance to go through the whole thing, but tomorrow that project will be completed.

I got to go through another backpack 4th period. Again, the bell rang before we could finish, but this backpack was in serious need of help, and we were about half way done, so I told the student to come back after lunch and we would finish the job.

The student came back and we went through the rest of his papers. About 1/3 of the papers were almost unrecognizable because they were crushed and smashed and had pencil smudgings and were just dirty. Yuck. But, we did organize all the papers into subjects. We didn't quite finish math because there were an awful lot of math papers in there. We will have to finish that tomorrow.

This student didn't have any binders or folders though. Everything was just shoved into his backpack. I have a few 1/2 inch binders that I use for purposes just like this one: a student needs a binder and most likely does not have the support/finances at home to have binders.

So we got a couple of binders, three-hole punched some papers, and then put them in those binders.

The student joked that his backpack seemed so light - almost like nothing was inside it! I told him that considering how many papers we took out, it made sense!

After he had gone to his next class, I realized that he had left a couple of notebooks behind. I ran over to his class and gave him his notebooks. He was sitting in the front row, and on his desk was his newly organized binder.

I don't mean to get all mushy on you, but some of these kids don't have the support and resources that you and I are/have been blessed with. They don't have parents at home who ask about school and help them with their homework. Their parents also don't have money to buy school supplies. I was so touched that he had his binder out. This kid can be a punk (he NEVER stops talking), but he has a place in my heart.

I love my job and I LOVE the opportunity to help my students. :)

-Ms. Damron-