Some of the funniest moments of the year happen when we do “Guess My Age”.

For contrast, when we got to Leonardo DiCaprio…

Last year:1

Girl: Wait, he’s HOW old?!?

This year:2

Girl: I don’t care. If he’s 62, I’m 61.

o_O

Also, I decided to keep former Texas coach Mack Brown on the list. When I told them:

I considered kicking him off, but I didn’t have the heart…

…a young man in class today retorted with:

“UT did.”3

Eight Nine weeks into the new season, and things are slowly4 starting to feel like home.

1. Season 7 [↩]
2. Season 8 [↩]
3. That burned a little… [↩]
4. but surely [↩]

I’ve said it before:

Being a teacher gets more difficult with each passing year — not easier.

Granted, we probably get better at our jobs with added experience, but things sure don’t feel easier.

I keep holding my breath for the day that I realize that I’m wrong about this, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that that day won’t cross paths with me this year.

The poetic parallel?

“The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.”

When I started this job almost eight years ago, I remember telling myself that it only felt like a proper “job”1 one day2 out of five, and that the other four3 felt more like a hobby.

And that has always been my point of reference — that if the “days where this job feels like a grind” quotient exceeds 1 in 54, that maybe something is wrong.

That if that quotient starts tilting the wrong way, that maybe it’s time to look for that sunset.

That’s the balance that I’ve been trying to get back to for these first seven weeks of the new journey, and thankfully, things are starting to feel like they’re settling into place.

Thankfully, these first seven weeks have been wonderful thus far.

Mostly. 5

1. insert negative connotations associated with the word “job” or “work” or “grind” [↩]
2. well, maybe two days… [↩]
3. …or three. [↩]
4. or maybe 2 in 5, tops [↩]
5. Just hoping it stays at least “4 out of 5 days” mostly. [↩]