5 Down, 175 To Go...

well, five days down, 175 to go. the first week of school has gone ridiculously well for having 5 periods of freshmen, and i really believe it will stay this way - or mostly this way. last year's freshmen were largely a bunch of tools who acted like they were entitled to behave however they wanted. not so this year (thankfully). this year's freshmen are timid and well-behaved and i am LOVING it. it's been remarkably easy to get them into a routine, and as any teacher can tell you, the first week is the most important one. how this week turns out is very indicative of how the rest of the year will go. if this keeps up, i will have an amazing year. two of my periods are already responding to my teaching style... i think the other ones haven't figured out what to do with me yet... i'm just as random and dead-panned sarcastic with them as i am in real life, so they're not sure if i'm serious or joking sometimes. they'll catch on soon. so anyway, i'm actually kind of excited about the year, which is awesome since i wasn't sure what to expect with all 9th graders. so, yay, me! and yay, class of 2011! (good lord, that makes me feel old...) keep your fingers crossed that it stays this way....

Who Needs Knives When I Have Worksheets?

i have been back to school for 7 days; 4 days of pre-planning, and 3 days of students. in that time, i have managed to give myself several thousand papercuts. seriously, i have 6 visible cuts that are healing/scarring, and several more that were tiny enough not to leave a mark. but don't let the size of the cut fool you, my friends - even the tiniest slice hurts like a BITCH. why do papercuts hurt so much? i have sliced my thumb open with a steak knife, and it didn't hurt this badly. oy. i may have to take to shuffling through worksheets and homework while wearing gloves... anyone who finds a stylish pair - let me know, would ya? apparently i need them.