Time is flying by. The first part of the year seemed to creep by, when I wasn’t sure what I was doing and I was just so overwhelmed with all my responsibilities. But from Thanksgiving to now has just flown by and I barely had time to get everything done! I’m just crossing my fingers that everyone gets their Christmas cards in time.

Things at the school are changing dramatically. A couple of key people are leaving after the break (including the 7th grade counselor and the 8th grade assistant principal who set in place most of the structured rules), and I think it will slowly change the dynamics of the school drastically. I’m not sure what to expect. There are a lot of problems and a lot of people are feeling really unhappy and unsettled right now, so it will be interesting to see how things play out.

As for the kids, they are interesting. Somebody asked me the other week how I liked 7th grade. Honestly, I like it better than I thought was possible because most of the kids are extremely intelligent. About half the kids are amazingly mature for their age as well, which makes it tolerable. They surprise me with their insights and ability to rationalize and debate. It’s that other slightly smaller half of immature kids that makes it hard to cope. I do like all my students though, and try hard to find ways to compliment them and put them up during this difficult time in their life. Lets face it…. middle school/junior high is the armpit of society.

This past week had some downs with my health. I went to the doctor again on Monday, and we think we have some additional progress. With the medication however, it’s might make me a little sicker before it makes me better. blech. So when I took this particular addition to my meds, the side affects were some anxiety, 3 hours of sleep, and nausea for nearly 2 days straight. lol. I cut back on that particular dose and I think it’s a little better that way, but that definitely was an adventure to go to school to teach the kids feeling like that!

Anyways… I think I am going to relax and read a little like I am suppose to do on break before I let myself do more preparations for Christmas or grading for school!