hanging on to those good times

well, i had a very surefire awakening to what my next teaching year is going to be like. i've had inklings since last year, but this past week has been increasingly intense in revealing the truth of what will be.

it began with those sneaky, devious, catty girls. you know the kind i mean. the kind you can just tell are talking about you and everyone else in the room. one group decides to hate the other group, and suddenly all kinds of hideous names are being bandied about like a cat bats a mouse in its paws.

and today began with a fight on the way to mass. that's a good way to begin some time with Jesus. another kid got in trouble for making inappropriate noises in class but wouldn't admit to it, which then caused the whole class to receive a negative consequence. and the day finally finished out with the principal making all the 7th grade meet in one room so she could lambast them.

boy i can't wait till next year.

so what i must do is document the treasurable moments of this year so that next year when my class is either hating me because i'm doing my job well or running me over because i'm not, i can remember that not all years are that awful. not that my class this year is perfect. but dang, they've been the nicest class i've had since my first year of teaching.

for instance, this class (at least a lot of its members) and i share an appreciation for the hangover. yes, that naughty movie. but so funny. based on a comment a speaker made to our school last week (he referenced being a member of a "lone wolf club"), a student and i decided that we should start our own lone wolf club; however, ours is more based on a love of alan of the hangover. it was a pretty great bonding moment in the bus room today as our class "signed up" to join on our club. then another kid started his own club--the "penal club"-- based on the vocabulary word we had this year. (isn't that evil, to design a vocabulary unit with the word "penal" in it?)

i had to record those moments b/c i don't think they can happen next year.

btw: don't be alarmed about the hangover interest. it's all clean. i wouldn't have it any other way.