First 2011 School Day

And yes, I am tired! It doesn't help that I'm still a bit jet-lagged from our Israel trip, nor that I have a deep, hacking cough that woke me up at 3:30 this morning and didn't let me go back to sleep at all. Also, this year for the first time, my 7th graders did not meet their reading goals. This group baffles me. Teaching in a private school usually leads to a greater percentage of high-performing students. Roughly one-third of my 7th graders received zeros today. That is so discouraging! Not one of my 8th graders did that, not this year and not last year when they were 7th graders, but this group is quite an unusual bunch. I chewed them out pretty thoroughly but it felt like I was getting the old water off a duck's back attitude. It is their loss. Several have very low grades and the semester ends in less than three weeks. Guess we'll see what happens next. Normally third quarter is the lowest grading period of the year; I am hoping it won't get any lower this year! Well, the sun is shining and it's supposed to rain tomorrow so I think I'll head outside, even though it's cold, and see if I can get some vitamin D!