THE FIRST WEEK

Hi there-- Sorry it's been a while. I actually developed a biting fever, alternating runny noses, unrelenting sore throat, ugly cold sore on my lip, nasty headaches, and a bad cough since Sunday. Oh, and I started teaching my new job on Monday.

Needless to say, I have been a mess. But last night, at around 2am, my fever broke. I woke up soaking wet. No lie. My shirt was drenched in sweat. My boxers, soaked. My legs were slick with sweat.

All that meant to me was that this morning I awoke and my fever was gone! My headache was gone! I could teach at my full potential.

So I will give you a taste of my junior highers so far. I asked them on the first day to write down any questions that they had for me on one side of the page, and on the other would they please write about two or three incidents that have changed their lives.

I will share one life-changing incident and one set of questions today:

"One thing that changed my life was my cousin getting shot. It changed my life because it showed me that gang violence really affects people. Another thing that changed me was breaking my arm."

"How strict are you? If you were to grow out your beard, what would it look like? Do you like pencil erasers? If so, what color? Do you have a pet? If so, what does it smell like? How many pairs of socks do you have? What sort of music do you like? What underwhere [sic] is your favorite?"

I answered all of these questions and more. I'll share the rest of the interesting ones later.