What a ridiculous week!!

So T.G.I.F. first and foremost!!

This was just an utterly bad week, schoolwide. Perhaps it's the changing weather (the "fall" season seems to be approaching), perhaps it's because this was our first 5-day week in a while... who knows?

Anyway, aside from the kids being monsters, things are going a bit better. We're getting somewhat of a routine down with the day, and I see that the students do actually like rituals, routines, and rules. I need to be more consistent, though; I feel like I've been all over the place with them lately. It's just rough having 27 different problems to deal with all day, every day. Such is teaching!

Due to last week's discussion of Darfur, the class decided they wanted to write a letter to President Bush. They each wrote individual letters, which they'll type up next week in computer class. Today, we drafted a letter from the entire class. It reads:

"Dear Mr. President:

"Hello! We are a 4th and 5th grade class in ... Arizona.* Our class is in ... Elementary School.* We are aged 9 to 12 years, and we are in Ms. ....'s class.*

"We as a class have mixed feelings about your presidency and what you're doing. Even though it seems like it is difficult to be President, we have some questions for you. Why are we in Iraq, and not helping the people in Darfur, Sudan? Why are we disturbing other countries? Why did you send our troops to Iraq in the first place? How do you feel about your ratings going down?

"We're worried about several issues. First, we're concerned that thousands of our own troops have died in Iraq. We are worried because people we love are over there, including brothers, sisters, and other family members. If you were over there, would you die for our country? Also, how does it feel to be President?

"Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We hope you think over the issues we have mentioned. We would greatly appreciate it if you wrote back to us.

"Your citizens,

..." *I did not include the specific names above to maintain the anonymity of the blog.

Anyway, the letter needs a bit of work, but it's a start. At least the students are concerned about the world in which we live, and are motivated to change! In fact, looking back on it, my greatest time of environmental activism was when I was in the 5th grade. I wrote a petition to Al Gore about what should be done to help the environment, and I had the whole school sign the document. I also organized playground litter pick-ups. Oh, youth and its idealism!

Ok, time to plan a little bit, then relax!!! Tomorrow, I'm going out of town to see 5 of my boys play in a college football stadium! Very cool. For now, peace.