It's October already?!

Holy moly. It's October. Already.

I have a lot I could post about, but right now all I want to do is breath & relax for a second. We had a pretty busy weekend, we have another sort of busy one coming up, and I've already taught 4 classes, graded, made dinner, and run errands (and while running errands: avoided buying up all the cute Halloween stuff I found, haha) all before 5. Whew.

Then again, I promised myself I'd blog more. Here's a compromise:

• This year is waaaaaaaaaay better than last.
• I love my principal, Math Teacher next door, new AP (assistant principal, for those who don't eduspeak), and other snarky English teachers.
• I love my little English 9 kiddos! I did NOT expect to ever say that. They are crazy (in a good way), hilarious, creative, pretty well-behaved, enthusiastic, and have tons of personality.
• My throat is so horribly dry today (and yesterday) that I could only talk at a normal tone. There was no Teacher Voice today. Thankfully, the kids were very supportive (even talkative 7th period!)
• I've been having a lot more success with correcting students behavior using a hand on the shoulder and conversational tone. This only works during independent work time or when my co-teacher is in the room and I'm circulating, but it's amazing how this works on kids who were seen as "bad kids" to other teachers.
• Yesterday I hung out with other teachers outside of school for the first time. Okay, it was a baby shower for another English teacher, but it was something! I went. I laughed. I played games. It was fun. Oh! And I wore my "There Their They're" shirt from Threadless and they all commented on it!

And a big announcement:

I am now the sponsor of the new literary magazine. New School hasn't had one for years, but they desperately need one because those artsy, nerdy kids are getting no love or recognition from our school. I stepped up to do it even though I honestly have no clue what I'm doing. I already have about 25 kids who came in to say they're interested. There are flyers all around the school. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will have something to show for our effort.