Learning, Laughter, and Love in Middle School English

What a wonderful first week!  Although I am exhausted, I loved meeting my students.  They have the best attitudes.  In the past, I did ice breakers the first few days.  However, I read an article over the summer that made me rethink that practice.  Students (especially on the first day of middle school) are NERVOUS!  In fact, some are TERRIFIED.  They are likely just thinking about how they will survive each class and how they will find their way to the next class.  So, I am not going to lie,  the first few days of my class were probably pretty boring.  I spend a lot of time explaining our bell schedule to students. I tried my best not to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher or the teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off !  Anyone remember this scene? Anyone? Anyone? They were pretty overwhelmed.  All of the English teachers agreed to show a slide show explaining the ins and outs of Diegueno.  The kids had a lot of questions, and I feel it was time well spent. One question

I feel so fortunate to work in a district that embraces growth and change! We are frequently provided with opportunities to attend workshops to up our game!  This week I spent four mornings at La Costa Canyon High School under the leadership of Kevin Fairchild, one of our Teachers on Special Assignment for Technology in the Classroom.  It was so invigorating to be surrounded by educators who are so dedicated and excited about what they do. I learned so much from my colleagues and can't wait to implement the tools I was shown! I have been a teacher for over twenty years, and I truly believe that this is the most exciting time in education. There are so many new ways of doing things.  Students are much more hands on than in years past and are given more freedom to be creative and take risks. When I was in high school: Of course nobody actually OWNED a cell phone in 1983! 1) There were no cell phones (well, maybe in a movie, but they required a large suitcase).  In fact, I h