I taught 6th grade in elementary and middle school and I loved it! Because of different grade and boundary realignments, I also had the opportunity to teach 3rd and 4th grade. These teaching positions were in a Title One school, a very high-affluent area, and a school with a wide range of SES. I really enjoyed teaching all of the different grades, but my heart was always with 6th grade.
When I taught in middle school, I taught 6 periods of math each day. I especially loved being able to focus only on math and really hone my craft. I taught honors, co-taught, and on-level classes. I loved the challenge of differentiating the content to meet the needs of students at all ability levels. My favorite part of each class period was singing our "Math is Awesome!" chant each day. This had many variations, including "Awesome is Math!".
Usually by 6th grade, students have very strong opinions about math, some positive and some negative. I loved working with struggling students and helping them feel success in math; sometimes this was a first for them in their lives. I wanted them to walk away from my class knowing they could do it. I also really tried to show students that math is in our lives every day and they will use what they learn.
I now spend a lot of my time volunteering in my children's classrooms and am an avid member of their school's Parent Teacher Organization (PTO).