Junior-highers

Junior highers are awesome. I've had limited experiences with them in the past few years- mostly involving horribly overcrowded summer-school classrooms filled with remedial students. The past two weeks at my new job have given me a new appreciation for 6th-8th graders. Here's why:

1. They still want to please me. I asked some bored-looking junior high boys if they wanted to help me. They literally jumped up and down from excitement when I had them stamp books. Later I reprimanded a group of 7th grade girls for yelling in the hallway. Several of them came to me a few hours later and apologized for their behavior. And, on the same day, I asked some 6th graders to take their food out of the library. They apologized profusely and immediately put their food away. I had asked the same thing of a high school girl earlier that morning and she rolled her eyes at me.

2. They're holding on to that last ounce of innocence. I've over-heard a couple conversations where students have said something that could have been taken as a double-entendre. None of them realized it. I guess their minds are not quite in the gutter yet.

3. They're a lot easier to make laugh.

4. The boys still in the gross-out phase. One of them was super excited to show me his scab the other day. I won some gross-out points for myself when I showed him my loose knuckle.