Patience

Short post today, as I think a lot about the importance (see: necessity) of patience in dealing with middle school students coming off daylight saving clock-adjusting with a full moon week thrown in with Spring Break on the horizon. Let's just say things get a little "hairy" around this time!

You know it's going to be a grind of a Monday when you're not even 15 minutes into your first class and you have to 'get real' with them about their behavior, performance, following directions, etc. Thankfully things have picked up a little from that point, but man...not great when you're still waiting for the coffee to perk ya up a bit.

In the end, you take much of what a middle school student says and does with a grain of salt because, well, they're 12. But still, all too often I find myself channeling my inner Kramer from Seinfeld and thinking to myself serenity now, serenity now...

Thankfully life inside a middle school is like MN weather --> just wait about 5-10 minutes and it will change. The kids make you smile and laugh as much as they make you shake your head in bewilderment. They show amazing signs of kindness, grace, and acceptance as much as they offer scorn and ridicule to each other. And for the most part, their openness and eagerness to learn outweighs their preteen angst and ambivalence.