And I quote:

"Mr. Ruderman, I'm sorry, but everyone hates you. And I do too, well kind of but I still hate you.

Sincerely,
[name withheld]."

So teaching's going well. Actually, it really is. Are some of my students unhappy? Yes. Are some of them unafraid to express their true feelings in their responsive journals? Absolutely. Are there days when my teacher vein--that one on my left temple that pulses when I reach thermal meltdown stage--feels like it's the size of a drainage pipe and about to bust open? Yep.

But on the whole, so far so good. Insanely busy, of course, with the prep and paper-pushing and Open House and parent conferences and five-week report cards and DRA's and AIS plans and... You get the picture. But there are days when we laugh a lot and I shout only a little and we work together ok and maybe a few of my 24 actually learn something.

So I'm hanging in. I'll wrap up with a quote from another student:

"Today was a good day because the [other] students didn't say mean things to me and J. talked to me and we didn't fight that's why I'm very happy but I was also sad."

The truth is the truth for students of any age.

Go back to the sixth grade with me,

TR