"Ms. Cimini, you're one of the most real teachers I have ever had". At the end of this school year, when a student said this to me, I took a moment to digest it. Then I realized it was one of the best compliments I had ever gotten as an educator. If you have ever read my blog, you know that I teach middle school and I love it (I even wrote a post about how much I love teaching middle school - you can check it out here ). I spent several years teaching high school as well, but middle school is my happy place for several reasons. I won't go into them all again, save one. Middle school is not just about what you are teaching. Most importantly it is about who and how you are teaching. Middle school kids are in the throes of becoming people and, as a middle school educator, I can help them to become who they are going to be. This aspect of the job is more important than any content knowledge I can teach them. When they leave my room at the end of the year, it is more