So far, so good

     Today was the third day of the school year. So far, I think I have some very nice kids. There is always a honeymoon period; where the kids are nice and quiet and do what you ask them to do only because they haven't gotten bored yet, or because what you are asking them to do isn't very difficult. We'll see what happens when the real work begins, which should be sometime next week. Can't tarry too long, this semester passes by so quickly and we have a very full curriculum calendar. The spring semester drags a little, because of testing, but this one flies!
     I have two blocks of juniors this semester and one block of sophomores. Juniors study American Literature, my favorite, and sophomores study World Literature. World Lit. is o.k. too and I am excited because we got a new book in the textbook novels: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is part of the new "Common Core" Standards that have come along. I had the opportunity to read it this last spring and I think the kids are really going to like it. I thought the writing was very good and the fact that the narrator is Death, is a sure bet with teenagers. I hope it goes well and they like it as much as I did. I struggled with the German in the book but I solved that problem by getting the audio CD's.
     My classes are full, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of switching around. Usually the first two weeks I have kids dropping my class for another and other kids being added to my class. I do quite a bit of prep work for the semester in the first week so it puts the new students behind right off the bat. But that doesn't seem to be happening this year. I am glad. It makes for much smoother transitions for me and my students when we are all together from the very start.
     I decided not to carpool this year. I like the freedom of not being on someone else's schedule. I know. It's cost effective to carpool but I have done it three years out of the seven so I figure I am ahead of the game, so to speak. Not carpooling gives me more time in the morning, the freedom to run late, although I am rarely late, and the freedom to stop on my way home to run an errand or shop. It also gives me the freedom to stay after school for just a little while in case a student needs some help. I haven't been able to do that, and the only other time available is at lunch which the kids hate to give up (me too!) so I think, overall, it was a good decision.
     So, this is all for today. I need to head home and put my feet up for a while, feed Jerome his Greenies and plan for tomorrow, which is Friday; a very good day, indeed!