It’s been a push to get through the last couple of weeks with my wits intact. I walked into the school this morning after dropping my 8th grader off at before-school volleyball practice…by the time I arrived there was a crowd of little kids in the hallway waiting for breakfast. Some of them laying down across the hall in a pile of snow gear. Others playing tag, or something that looked like what tag would look like if you didn’t let go when you do the tagging. I dodge and weave. They’re little. I try not to bulldoze anyone.

It’s warm and bright in the building. Nice colors. Beautiful artwork hanging from the high ceiling. A contrast from the bleak minus 20 degree weather that won’t let up. And I think, Be happy. As I enter the office I say, It’s great to have a job! Huh? One of the secretaries says, Where did that come from? It’s just the little pep talk I give myself in the morning before I attempt the impossible, I say. Smiles around the room. I’m grim way too often, I think.

I suppose that anyone, no matter what they do, gets tired after 24 years. I don’t know. The principal asked me a couple of weeks ago if I was interested in a grade level change for next year. I told him that sixth would be good. There’s an opening there, and I’ve done it a few times. My wife said that anything that helps me keep my head in the game at this point is worth doing. Her advice, Go for it.

People say, So…you’re going to sixth. It’s not exactly a question. I know what they mean, though. Sixth grade, like kindergarten and first grade, is what I call a “specialty grade.” It has it’s own set of conditions that don’t apply to the other grades, and it may only appeal to a small subset of the teaching workforce. But, it has it’s good and bad points, like most other things.

Good things about sixth graders:

  • They rarely cry;
  • They can find page 243 in their textbooks right away;
  • There aren’t so many crumbs on the floor after they eat;
  • Their mommies don’t walk them into the building;
  • They’re subversive and don’t tell you about every damn thing that happens all day long;
  • They understand most of my sarcastic humor.

Bad things about sixth graders:

  • They are completely full of themselves, and do not appear to care about anything you say unless it’s about them;
  • They are loud at lunch time;
  • They forget everything they’ve ever learned;
  • They’re subversive, and sometimes you have to investigate to find out what the hell happened that nobody wanted you to know about.

The best part of this grade level move is that I’ll be able to work with many of the kids I had in my fourth grade class last year. Those kids will get to pick up where we left off with the classroom website. It may be interesting to see how a year’s growth will translate in their writing. Maybe we can do more work with multimedia than I’ve been able to do with this year’s group.

Other things I’m thinking about: We can read young adult literature, and do more group work. The other sixth grade teacher is interested in getting her class going on the website, too. In Helen Barrett’s paper about portfolios and learner engagement, she found that, in school sites that had 2 or more teachers implementing them, a small community of practice developed which supported portfolio uses that were conducive to formative assessment and student reflection.

I’m curious to see what might happen if I am able to work closely with another teacher on the student blogging project. My sixth grade counterpart went through the Alaska State Reading Endorsement program at the same time I did, so we share a common theoretical reference point. May be good chemistry for some changes.

This afternoon was the beginning of Spring Break. It was also the end of the 3rd Quarter. It’s all downhill from here. If only it would warm up a little.