All in the Family

"Can I leave this bag in your room?" a seventh grader asked this morning. "It won't fit in my locker."

"Sure," I shrugged, peering at the long thin parcel she carried on a strap over her shoulder. "What is it?"

"It's lacrosse gear," she told me. "My friend Addie is going to teach me how to play after school."

"8th grade Addie?" I responded, and when she nodded, I said, "She was in my homeroom!"

"I didn't know that!" she laughed.

"That's right," I confirmed. "You were in here last year, and she was here the year before. She's like your older homeroom sibling."

"I like that!" she smiled. "I'm going to tell her when I see her!"

Not Even Me?

"I read your blog," my brother told me when we stopped by this morning, "how everyone is aging clearly made a big impression."

"I know!" I agreed.

"It's because you work in a school with lots of young teachers," he said.

"And the kids!" I added. "No one gets old in middle school!"

"Not even you, apparently," he laughed.

Mature Gathering

My sister in law is turning 60 on Monday; a milestone birthday for sure. To celebrate my brother planned a party in the wine bar of a local place and invited a group of 20 or so friends and family. 

Even though I had known most of the guests for thirty years or more, it had been a long time since I had seen many of them. I confess that I was a little surprised that despite our vibrant energy, there was absolutely no question that this was a party for a 60 year old. The gray hair and wrinkles gave us all away. 

"Irritable" Vocabulary? (10 letters)

To give the students a fun and engaging opportunity to review the prefixes they have been learning, I turned to a tool I used several years ago, when last we taught word parts. I created a crossword puzzle using a website that worked for me back then. 

Because I thought it best to start off pretty easy, each clue had the definition of the prefix and some form of the root word. So, for example, "to spell something wrong" would be "misspell".Even so, I wasn't prepared for the number of kids who didn't know how a crossword puzzle worked. 

The concept of across and down was confusing, and some students literally turned their papers 90 degrees to write the down answers from right to left. One kid found a space for the actual words 'across' and 'down' and then crossed them out like it was a reverse word search. Additionally, going through and filling out the ones they definitely knew was a foreign concept to them, especially since they didn't realize that having some letters could help them check and solve other clues.

All in all, what was planned as a quick review activity took a lot more assistance and supervision, (not to mention time!) than I expected, but once they got it? 

Most kids asked if I had another one.

Communicator

To the kid who rushed through that standardized reading screener in 16 minutes, beating the rapid question algorithm and scoring in the 6th percentile, and later destroyed his pen, getting ink all over the table and chairs around him, and then cried when I kept him at lunch and asked how I could help him, telling me he didn't have any friends at school:

I hear you.

Nothing to See Here

The group of adults filed in quietly just as my class was getting settled after the bell. I nodded a greeting to the visitors, noting that they were from admin, central office, and the DOJ, there to observe me and my co-teachers as we instructed our class of students, many of whom were ELLs, SWDs, or both.

"Today you all are going to take a test," I informed my students, and as I launched into the description and overview of the standardized assessment I was being required to administer, the observers quickly packed up and slipped out.

Nailed It

"You know September is not a good month to decide when to retire," my friend Mary reminded me this afternoon. We were both weary from a day of forcing squirrely kids to take yet another standardized test, this one new to us, too, so harder to troubleshoot the inevitable technical glitches.

"I know," I agreed.

"We always feel this way in the beginning of the year," she continued, "overwhelmed and cranky."

"I know," I agreed again, and I really did. Just last night I had reread what I wrote here on this blog one year ago:

This is not the time of year for me to make any decisions about my career. 

One month on, it seems like students should be settling in as systems and procedures become familiar, but that is not what is happening. The kids from 7th grade are still coming back, seeking the comfortable routine we worked for 10 months to establish, and the new sixth graders are still dazed and confused by the expectations their predecessors eventually mastered. 

 But I know the keyword is "eventually". I know that last year at this time I was still working hard and waiting for everything to click, and even feeling a little discouraged that those kids didn't get how great the class could be, if only they gave it a chance. If I think about it, I will recollect what a slog the first unit always is, and I will understand that building community and relationships takes time, especially after the initial excitement of a new school year wears off. 

 And so I must resolve to carry on and make adjustments for the new group when necessary, to be mindful that some of the activities that were awesome last year might not be as good a fit this time around, and to notice the new magic whenever it happens.

Which is exactly how I am feeling today.