The Difference Between 8th Grade & High School
I'm still adjusting to life in Missouri as an 8th grade teacher. I miss my juniors in high school. I've decided there are some real differences between 8th graders and juniors.
The most obvious: 8th graders smell. Most 11th graders have figured out the benefits of regular bathing and deodorant. My last class of the day is right after most of them have P.E. and only one boy comes in with wet (washed) hair. I'm spending a fortune on Air Freshener. Another difference: 8th graders must be walked to lunch and we, the teachers, must sit with them. We can't hide out in our room and take a breath--if the air was fresh.
8th graders also seem to have lost their hearing when it's time to listen to directions but have acute hearing if the teacher is trying to talk to someone else.
8th graders have little or no patience. They can't wait their turn whether in asking a question, getting help, or waiting for lunch.
8th graders pass notes because their hormones are raging. And they can't even handle the word hormone. We were reading a story that mentioned hormones used in chicken and I had to wait for all the snickers to die down before moving on. Because of their hormones, everything to an 8th grader is a crisis except getting their homework done. And also because of their hormones, seeing 8th grade boys watch a high school volleyball game is like watching panting dogs with their tongues hanging out of their mouths.
Because they are the oldest in the school, 8th graders think they have arrived, are kings/queens of the world, and are unconquerable. And I can't wait to see them knocked down a peg or two next year in the big, bad world of high school!
The most obvious: 8th graders smell. Most 11th graders have figured out the benefits of regular bathing and deodorant. My last class of the day is right after most of them have P.E. and only one boy comes in with wet (washed) hair. I'm spending a fortune on Air Freshener. Another difference: 8th graders must be walked to lunch and we, the teachers, must sit with them. We can't hide out in our room and take a breath--if the air was fresh.
8th graders also seem to have lost their hearing when it's time to listen to directions but have acute hearing if the teacher is trying to talk to someone else.
8th graders have little or no patience. They can't wait their turn whether in asking a question, getting help, or waiting for lunch.
8th graders pass notes because their hormones are raging. And they can't even handle the word hormone. We were reading a story that mentioned hormones used in chicken and I had to wait for all the snickers to die down before moving on. Because of their hormones, everything to an 8th grader is a crisis except getting their homework done. And also because of their hormones, seeing 8th grade boys watch a high school volleyball game is like watching panting dogs with their tongues hanging out of their mouths.
Because they are the oldest in the school, 8th graders think they have arrived, are kings/queens of the world, and are unconquerable. And I can't wait to see them knocked down a peg or two next year in the big, bad world of high school!
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