Today was my last day pushing into the 8th grade classrooms. All eighth-graders had to take their end of the year QRI assessment. I administer this test three times a year to all middle-school students to determine their comprehension reading levels in May.
Now I am left wondering; what is it about those eighth-graders? In general, I find that age to be a very challenging one to teach. It seems that even though they are on the cusp of becoming high-schoolers, they still don't have that maturity yet. And, at the same time, they hold grudges, become more belligerent, and are just "too cool" for 99% of what you what to do with them in class. I think I am just missing that sweetness and innocence that they once had back in 6th or 7th grade.
Another part of my "annoyance" (and this isn't even their fault) is there are too many of them crammed into a tiny classroom. When I first came to Kuwait, there were 15 or 16 in a class. That number was very workable and there was extra room in class to isolate troublemakers or do some re-arranging. Also, the classrooms were originally built for that many I believe. Over the years we continue to go up in class sizes and are now pushing 22 or 23 in a room. Normally, that isn't too bad but it is when your classroom cannot support those numbers. So sad. As I was walking around the room today giving out the test, I noticed how students are tripping over desks, their backpacks and their feet just to go to the bathroom.
When you push into a classroom, you feel a bit like a substitute. It does take a while to build relationships with the kids. Luckily, I have known this bunch of 8th graders since 6th grade so I have that going for me. There are even many 8th graders that I adore on an individual basis. But when they are together as a group, 8th grade is just not my favorite grade-sorry to say.
