Freshman

There was no bell this morning, so all of my students come in late. They are a little more chatty than usual. Maddy says, "I can't write." and shows me a bandaged right hand. I say, "Use your left hand." I hear someone say, "That's mean." Brent is having a conversation with Alexys two seats away. I whisper to him, "You not only disturb Alexys but you disturb the whole class." Hannah, "Mr. Lynch, can I use the pencil sharpener?" "No, there's extra pencils here if you need them. " Then Alexys gets up and takes a pencil from my little box. As students write in their journal, a cell phone goes off. Somebody says, "O000000000uuu." I ignor it and the class goes on writing. Brent and his partner are fast writers. Already they have stopped writting. Alexys hands Hannah her journal to read, then Hannah passes hers to Alexys. They smile at each other. It's time to stamp their journals.

Period 5
Class begins with announcement. A group of Seniors joke as they read the announcements. Then our principal comes on the loudspeaker to suggest a moment of silence for the victims of nine eleven- today's anniversary. I mistakenly say, "OK, it's tutorial time." A class full of puzzled faces looks at me. "I mean journal." This is a fun and noisy English class. They take on each assignment with some enthusiasm which is nice. At the same time they get riled up quickly, overall a very fun group- very different from Period 5.

It is ten minutes before five. I have been doing grades since 2 PM and have not gotten half of them done yet. Wish me luck and happy weekend.