Sigh. I'm feeling so much better now. Rereading some of the recent blog entries, I realized that I might have given the impression that the kids I teach are a bunch of jerks. But that is absolutely not true. They just drive me crazy sometimes, because they are teenagers, and that's their job. This week, I'm really loving them. I don't know what has changed, them or me, but the reality is that every teacher goes through phases with their students - some weeks you can barely stand to look at them, and other weeks you just want to ring their necks!

Over the weekend, I chaperoned another Model United Nations conference, this time at UC Berkeley. And as always with field trips, the joys of bonding with the kids outweigh the stress of organizing 15 teenagers for 3 days. And let me tell you, there is nothing like driving through the streets of Berkeley with a carful of teenagers, while the 9th grade boy in the front seat tells racist jokes that have everyone almost pissing themselves. And I'm talking full equality racial jokes - as in, he told jokes that were offensive to whites, blacks, Asians and Mexicans. Talk about bonding! Good times!

Other things this week that had me feeling hopeful this week --

My homework turn-in level has increased significantly! Yah!

One of my most disorganized 10th grade boys had a FULLY ORGANIZED binder today, and was studying in class instead of talking. I couldn't get him to reveal what caused this drastic turnaround though.

Two of my highest acheiving students - I'm talking straight A superstars, told me that at their previous schools, they were failing their classes and always skipped classes. Yet, at our school, they thrive.

One of the above girls has been drilling me for information about colleges, and she is already starting to make plans even though she is only a 10th grader. This weekend, I am taking her and 3 others down to Stanford to check out the campus - and I think this girl is definitely Stanford material! On a side note, she is also one that will be going on my Japan trip this summer :)

One of my black freshmen girls, who last week went postal on a Mexican boy who she accused of stealing her phone, had the courage to apologize to him when she found out that her friend had the phone the whole time. This was a big deal because in the past, an incident like this started a near race riot that led to the explusion of 18 students.

We had a great improptu discussion about North Korea in my 5th period class yesterday, and the kids were truly fascinated. Today I showed them my pictures from the DMZ, which totally blew their minds.

My advisory girls took their practice Exit Exam totally seriously, and I could really tell that they are serious about making sure they pass the first time.

And I have so many students that continue to be amazingly awesome :) This week, I love my job.