I don't really hate my job. But there does seem to be a downward trend in the behavior and academic readiness. I've been treaching for 13 years. And these kids seem to need a lot of attention - positive or negative. I think that's where a lot of the dumb questions come in.

I used to be able to give the students a task and they could work for 30 - 60 minutes with little input from me. This group can't work for a minute. They don't want or don't know how to do any independent thinking. I'm not sure how to teach that. I do find that when I tell them they have to think for 5 minutes before I'll help them - they often to seem to figure out what to do. That gets old though.

I'm glad you like the sweater. What color did you get? I've got black and I'dike to get a pink.

V.