Detention with Grade 7.

I'm sitting in my Middle School classroom with 6 young men. They're serving their detention with me by writing on the topic of "Do Hard Things." When they think they're done, I'm instructing them to go back and copy what they have written. An hour and a half of this should bore them to tears.

I've been atrocious with keeping up this blog so my apologies to those who attempt to stay in the loop with my life on here.

It is hard to believe that we're already a good way through the quarter. I still feel as though I'm constantly scrambling to get myself organized and on-track. My classes are going fairly well. I'm still trying to figure out how I can find balance in my life as juggle preparing for my classes with any kind of a social life.

Somehow, in the midst of the craziness that is teaching 3 brand new classes, I have found time to read. I've actually been doing a lot of it lately.

In the young adult genre, I've been reading the Twilight series. I absolutely understand why they appeal to the Grade 9-10 girls. I'm not totally sold on the whole vampire thing nor the "losing oneself" in another nor the potentially abusive relationships but they have had me laying in bed in my pajamas until noon on a Saturday with a perma-smile on my face.

I'm reading The Shack by William Young. Disclaimer: I think it is vitally important to remember that it is a piece of fiction. I'm only about 3/4 of the way through so don't give away the ending if you've finished it. I have enjoyed immensely the way that the author created these moving images of relationship, gardens, and talking with God. Tim is upset that I haven't finished it yet so that he can read it. So many essays to read, projects to grade, lessons to plan!

My World Literature class is reading Silence by Shusaku Endo together. I hope that my students enjoy it as much as I have. The book speaks to some of the experiences that I have had in my life. It is so powerful as it talks about the perceived silence of God during the persecution of Christians in Japan in the 1600s.

On a non-reading note, I have now twice watched Everything is Spiritual by Rob Bell. Wow! I think that's all that I can say about it.

Finally, my topic for today's detention essay comes from the book titled Do Hard Things by the Harris brothers. Remember Joshua Harris who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye? They're his little brothers. Let not your extreme reactions to their older brother deter you from their book. I have been so impressed by the book and some of their suggestions that I've made "Do Hard Things" our Grade 7 class motto. I don't think that Grade 7s need to fit the mold of the pre-teen that society expects has for them. I think that they can do hard things. They don't need to constantly be complaining. They don't need to be catty towards one another. They don't need to be apathetic. They don't need to not care. I want to encourage them towards something better.

15 more minutes before the torture ends for these MS boys...and for me.