Middle School English Teacher, Ingrid Adams

Many people frequently ask, “Why in the world would you want to teach middle schoolers?” (With a strange and concerned look on their faces of shock mingled with pity.) They also say, “Are you crazy? I could never do that!” I just smile or laugh and then give them an earful.  To begin, I love middle school students so much and feel privileged to be part of their formative years.  Statistics say on average a child is who they will be at their core by the end of 8^th grade, in terms of character development, their moral compass and habits. This is great news!  It means that we can still have a huge impact on their lives in and outside of the classroom. In middle school, students are old enough to engage in real world/real life problems, conversations and debates. At the same time they are also young enough to be open-minded and not jaded by the world quite yet.  This is a “sweet spot” in my opinion socially, academically, emotionally and spiritually.  I hope to shift the stereotypes of the “typical teenager” to positive thoughts of formation, growth and maturity during this time in their lives.

I absolutely love teaching English!  I know that also sounds insane, but I hope that my passion is communicated daily through my lessons.  On any given day you will find students engaged in creative writing, organizational writing strategies, grammar songs and jokes, dramatic literary readings or vocabulary stories/skits. My hope is to engage my students with practical, inspiring, and challenging lessons.  A very unique aspect to my job is getting to know my students on a deeper level through their writing.  It is so rewarding to see progression and voice evolve through the writing process and I feel privileged to be a trusted reader of their work.  It can be very intimidating to write and some students feel very vulnerable in the process. My goal is to build confidence in their writing through helping them with their organization, vocabulary, and editing skills.

Many people might not know that I was once a student at Baymonte.  I transferred to Baymonte as a 6^th grader from a public school and stayed through 8^th grade.  Baymonte was a safe haven after a tumultuous start to my 6^th grade year at a public school.  When I arrived at Baymonte I was welcomed by amazing teachers and made some very dear, lifelong friends.  After I completed my California Teaching Credential and Masters Degree, I spent time in public and private high schools teaching English.  The “jaded” attitude of some of the high schoolers, I had mentioned before, was prevalent in these schools and I knew I needed a change.  I knew that moving to a middle school was the right career move. Getting hired at Baymonte to teach Middle School English was a dream come true and felt like I was “home”.  I am so thankful for my 14 wonderful years teaching in this fabulous community.