Reality Check

Yesterday morning, as I sat through the annual faculty lectures on "The Dangers of Blood-borne Pathogens" and "The difference between an HMO and PPO,"I could not ignore the fact that summer was officially over. Reality hit me hardest as I went to my classroom to begin doing my bulletin boards and saw the stacks of desks and books.

While at this point I'm more overwhelmed than excited, the excitement is mounting. One big change for me this year is that I will be teaching only literature but for both 7th and 8th grade. For the last few years, I have taught only 8th grade, both lit and grammar.

Since I prefer teaching literature more than teaching grammar, (I know. That makes my blog title a bit ironic, doesn't it?) I love the new arrangement. The challenge for me will not be the new material as much as the new grade level. I'm not quite sure what to expect from 7th graders, most of whom will be 12 years old. I can hardly remember what I was like when I was 12--and it wasn't that long ago! The only thing I know for sure is that they will seem very young.

I'll be meeting many of them on Thursday during our open house. I've already been looking over last year's yearbook. I had a professor in college who knew almost everyone's name in the class the first day--even if she had never met you before. It certainly set a tone in her class and that is one thing I need to do in my classes, especially in jr. high classes.