Catching up

"Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head."
-Carl Sandburg


What am I up to? Well... school, school, and more school. I am really enjoying the seventh grade. They're cuter than 8th graders and still pay attention for the most part. However, by Friday of last week, they were starting to show their true colors. I've really got to work on being stern. I just don't know how to talk so "teachery."

2nd period is by far my most challenging class... lots of needy personalities... one kid who speeds through his assignments and wants additional work, another kid who takes the whole class period to write the day's essential question, another kid who follows me around the classroom, in addition to several social butterflies.

But then, 3rd period is such a breath of fresh air. They listen, they complete their work, and we always finish with extra time to scrounge around for additional activities.

But, I still don't have a very good picture of my students' foundation levels. So it seems like I've had to rework each day's lesson in order to reteach. It's bad when you're already feeling behind on the second week of school. Well... tomorrow's another day.