Last spring, after 5 years of teaching 6th grade math, I made a request to transfer to a different school to fill the gap where a friend was retiring. This move would give me the opportunity to teach 8th graders- mostly Algebra, but some regular 8th grade math.
The move was good, but changing levels meant that I had to immerse myself in the Common Core (again... it hasn't improved) for the new levels and work on all new lesson plans from scratch. So I have been a busy beaver, but enjoying my new school and students immensely.
8th graders seem like they are more than 2 years ahead of 6th graders in terms of maturity and understanding and it has been nice to not have to babysit them through the trials of middle school. Another nice thing is that not one kid has come to me and said, "I don't have a pencil." After 5 years of that (daily), I am glad to not have to hear it.
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Been thinking lately about life and current events and this poem, written during the American Civil War, seems to offer my exact thoughts:
Christmas Bells
I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
Amen and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
