It is that time of the year again. Reports are being written, the whingers are out in full force and life is a bit of good and bad for me. On the one hand, my Year 12’s are finished. They had their exam on Friday and there were no nasty surprises so I am fairly happy that they were well prepared. Some of the students have started emailing me to thank me for the year and that is really nice. It is an amazing feeling to know that you have been able to make a difference even to one student. My Year 11’s have finished too and I actually am really missing my senior classes. You have the benefit of being able to have really close relationships with your senior students and it is always sad to see them go. The fact that all of my senior classes have finished leaves me in the enviable position of having only 2 classes (7 periods a week) of Year 7’s. But this is where some of the bad comes in. As much as I love my Year 7’s and would happily talk to each of them for hours on their own, at the moment, as a class, they are a nightmare. Some of it is due to the fact that the end of the year is in sight for them and all they want to do is be silly and show off and talk, but part of the problem is that in conjunction with their lack of motivation, is my need to finalise their assessment and so each lesson at the moment with them I am fighting a battle to get them working. I feel like I am in a war zone every day and I really don’t like it. Maybe it is their lack of motivation. Maybe it is the fact that the work they are doing is boring. Maybe it is the fact that I don’t have the senior classes to balance me out and provide the mental stimulation I am used to having. Maybe it is a combination of all of those things, but I really don’t like the fact that the only classes that I am teaching at the moment really aren’t fun at all. The thing that amazes me the most though is that no matter how mean I am to them they all still love me and they all still want to tell me everything about their day and who said what and interrupt important instructions to tell me that my hair looks nice or that they like my necklace. I don’t feel like I deserve their affection at the moment and yet they still give it to me which is really special. By next week though things will get more fun. They have an Ancient History Day tomorrow which should be interesting and then next week we will work on some fun, interactive, not-for-assessment activities to liven them up again and finish on a fun note. So in general the year is looking positive at the moment. Work pressures are easing and the social scene is gearing up so I have been able to shift my attention away from school a little bit and more onto my fitness and health, my social life and having fun. After a year that has been so long and so hard in so many ways it is nice to have a change of pace and a change of focus. Looking forward is certainly more fun than looking back…