It’s the start of another school year, and I must say I’m looking forward to it. August was a hard month outside of the classroom (read here for more), but I was starting to excited about this year starting at the end of July.I haven’t spent every waking hour this summer, or even in August, thinking about my class, but what thoughts I’ve had have made me happy, and most fill me with optimism about the school year to come. Why is this?

• I like the 11 and 12 year olds. Not every moment of every day, because it is a difficult age; not just for us dealing with them, but for the kids themselves. Still from that agony comes a lot of interesting thinking, and creative work.
• I like the Social Studies/History curriculum covering early humans, and ancient civilizations. Earth Science is okay. I’d prefer the broader elementary curriculum of fifth grade in science, but the social studies coverage of early humans gets some more biology in the mix.
• I like that my site is not “buying” its way into Common Core, but allowing us to work as professionals on implementation. Yes, it’s hard creating curriculum, but I’m also trying to use some of what we already have in a new way, which is interesting to me. I know the light at the end of this proverbial curriculum tunnel is an on-coming train that will likely visit us with implementation of the new testing regime with Common Core, but there is some comfort in knowing that, and getting prepared for the fights that will surely follow (for more on this, see what’s happening in New York state right now).
• Doing a second year at the same grade-level lets me focus on what worked, and get rid of what didn’t. I’ve pared-down my beginning of year assessments (my own, not what my district is requiring), so I’m more focused on essentials.
• I’m looking forward to encouraging more deeper thinking from my students, helping them develop more voice in their writing, and having them do more art and visual representations of their analysis.

We’ll see what this all looks like as the year goes on. I’ll be posting weekly under the tag “weekinclass“