Spirit Week!

Oh boy.

This week has been one of the most exhausting, frustrating, fun, and productive weeks ever. It's as if everything exploded and barfed out masses of butterflies, which are very, very difficult to catch and contain again.

First: Spirit Week. I have never seen so much hype over a middle school football game. EVER. Battle of the Valley is even bigger than the high school football games. And of course, we won! There is a trophy involved. It has a chicken on it. This fact alone gives my school bonus +1000 points.

Second: I got two new students from the Academy class. Academy, as some teachers say, is an elite-named course for non-elite students. So far, these two seem really eager to learn, and they ask a lot of questions.

Third: Oh. My Freaking. Pooh. Cow. My colleague Ms. H, the geometry teacher - and a very good teacher - has noted in the past that 8th graders are like kindergartners on hormones. Never have I fully felt the impact of that description until this week. They are needy, they are random, their are easily distracted, they are funny, they are gross, they are messy, they forget things A LOT, they are smart, they learn fast, and they remember the most obscure things that will ever come out of your mouth. They will also latch onto those obscure things and ignore all else.

Fourth: It is wonderful to be caught up on paper work, caught up and AHEAD in lesson planning, caught up on every single little detail involved in daily teaching. I've found my groove, after two months of school, and it's working well. I'm happy. But I worked like there was no tomorrow. Certainly at this rate, without a break, I will burn out.

Fifth: Evacuation drills are a pain in the ass.