6th. Graders. Rock. They really do! They're independent, witty, creative, innovative and curious. Mine are still in elementary school, so they also still care about their teacher liking them; they love being at the top of the food chain. I've only been working with 6th graders for one school year, but I am absolutely sold. Although this is my first year teaching 6th grade, I am the only rollover teacher in the grade next year at our school, so I'll be the leader of the 6th grade pack. Terrifying? Yes. Cool? Yeah, a little. Ready? Not a chance.
It's the end-of-year time of year. We're finishing up nearly every unit, and we're about 4 weeks ahead of schedule on math. So exciting! That gives us four solid weeks for review, more review, and, you guessed it, a little more review. My colleague and I are big fans of cooperative and active learning to get kids learning out of their seats and in a hands on setting. As more posts show up, you'll see that my classroom is not your traditional class with worksheets, strict silence, a teacher neatly grading at her desk all school day, diligently making note of missing assignments. In fact, the only time I sit at my desk is to submit attendance and lunch count, or to get the technology ready for the upcoming lesson. My chair is proudly underused. It gets to join me during guided reading. Don't get me wrong, there are days that are absolute disasters where I wonder if we got anything accomplished or if anyone learned a dang thing at school that day. But I relish in the days that end with a feeling of, "Did that really just go that well? Did you see how well ___________ did? Have you read her poem? THEY ACTUALLY GOT IT!" Those are the days that make it all worth it. The days where the light goes on, the emerging kids shine, and the kids reluctantly leave, hoping tomorrow will be just as awesome. I live for those days no matter how far between they seem.
Here's to 42 more days of hard work in the 2012-2013 school year.
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