Teaching Time: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

The time is just about here to shift the ol' noodle away from "summer fun" mode to "school mode." (It has been a gradual transition--I've already been to my classroom to rearrange furniture and clean up following the end of summer school). As an energetic, anal, twitchy kind of guy, I'm primed to make the shift, despite a single reservation I have for the new year...

Our academic school year starts here in upstate New York in just over a week, and although I have been in education for 14(!) years, this will be my first year teaching 7th grade Language Arts. Our middle school loops Social Studies and Language Arts teams, and I started last year midway through a "loop" (translation: I taught 8th grade). I have been told by my students that I am "tough, but likeable" and I am hoping this approach continues to play well with my new charges. The biggest change for me is that the students just seem soooo young. My colleagues who are more experienced at the grade level have told me that "7th graders are more like 6th graders until January." Uh... okay.

I will do as I've always done in my teaching and call on my past successful experiences with young-uns, having been a Cubscout Leader, Coach, and professional mascot, and I'm sure things will be "all good." I am very excited to get back to business, as, truth be told, I really miss being around the energy and excitement of a middle school classroom!

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!