First Week of School

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 asked students to answer this week is what kind of person do you want to be and how do you want to impact the world and those around you. Here are some of the responses I received:

"I want to inspire people to follow their hearts."

"I want to make an impact by spreading smiles."

"I want to be a person who makes other people happy."

"I want to bring people together. After people meet me, I want them feel like I can be trusted and I would be a good friend."

"I want to be a smart, kind, and generous person."

"I want to impact the world by helping the homeless."

"I want to make the world a better place for everyone by helping the environment as an environmental lawyer."

"I want to help disabled people go to school and have good lives."

And this is just another example of why I adore middle schoolers.

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