Seventh

I am not used to this age level. They are so blasted young.

We created beginning thesis statements today. I ask to write a paragraph about your favorite movie. You should (for beginners) start with a sentence like, "My favorite movie is Braveheart." It was a struggle to get that much today.

And we worked on writing a friendly letter. They couldn't take the basic form out of the book and turn it out on their own paper. My first eighth grade class is so low that I don't know where to begin.

I always wanted to be a literature teacher. Like Mrs. Lehman from Somonauk, I wanted to discuss British literature. The Romantic poets were always my favorite. Some of these kids would have a hard time with The Cat in the Hat.

I have a lot of work to do this year. I would have expected these seventh and eighth graders to be able to write sentences. I mean, Morgan, in the fifth grade, brings home worksheets from school with much higher advanced stuff. Where the hell do they lose it? How do they keep getting pushed up?

One good thing will come from these GLEs (Grade Level Expectations). It will take about 12 years, for the kids to start weeding themselves out of school now. But for instance, first graders will have to show mastery on the first grade GLEs before they are allowed into second grade. If they have to stay all summer and the next year, they are not allowed into second grade without showing mastery of the list. Period. This will go for all grades. No more pushing up just for age bracket. It will start placing the accountability on the student. I can't worry about backtracking to how to write a complete sentence. I am supposed to be working on formulating paragraphs.

We are at a crossroads in education. Either the students show mastery of these GLEs or they can't move on. It's that simple.