Mistress of My Domain

I'm tired, I'm stressed out, I'm not eating right, I'm having a hard time staying hydrated, and the kids drive me up the wall. So when I say that I love my job it might seem a little strange that I actually mean it and not in any sarcastic sort of way. I'm the master (rather, mistress) of my domain and I don't have to take any flack and I've got tons of backup. It's amazing what a huge difference a sense of autonomy can make in one's world view. If something sucks I can take steps to change it. If something doesn't work, it's probably my fault and I have the authority to fix it. My room, my rules. You don't like it? Tough. Some of these kids are going to be 14 this year and they need to grow up and start taking some responsibility for themselves and stop being a bad influence on my younger ones.

I like being the mean teacher. My rep is spreading around the neighborhood outside of school from kids I don't even know. Apparently one of the 7th graders reported the fight to the guy who runs the corner store. Apparently (even though I have no idea who she is) I'm cool. Because I can take a hit from an eleven-year-old? Don't really know what it is, but I hope that any good reputation I have with the older kids starts to rub off on mine soon.

Some good news on the school front: I will soon be teaching math exclusively! Not sure when this will be implemented as I've only heard it through other teachers but eventually I will be the sole 6th grade math teacher and I will have the same kids but in three smaller classes. Which means getting to change some kids around so that they don't try and drive each other crazy too much and we can handle them better. It's going to make my life that much easier.