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The year has not begun with a bang, but with a whimper. Even though this is year 5 for me, it only feels like my third time around. And yet, as I introduced myself to a rather frightened looking bunch of 7th graders, I wish I could simply skip this whole beginning of the year “song and dance” and get right into things.

Aside from a particularly boring day in which I explicated the beginnings of my classroom rules and procedures, (which I will continue to do during the next few class periods), perhaps the highlight was a random visit from a former student B_____, a student I had for the past two years. She’s just begun her freshman year at L.A. High School, and is now “off-track”. One thing you have to know about B_____ is that she started 7th grade very shy, very reluctant, and very intimidated by mathematics. By the end of 8th grade, she had turned out to be one of the top students in her algebra class, and I was (and am) incredibly proud of her.

Now if only I can get my new kiddies this year to turn out like her…..

And now I’m off, with no particular place to go.