Thanks for that, heathcliffe. I sometimes hear that from their parents, sometimes. This may well be my final year in the classroom. The behavior challenges are sucking the life out of me (and my colleagues). We hear similar things from teachers in other cities and towns. Societal ills naturally make their way into our schools and chief among them are kids who aren't getting raised properly. Additionally, many of them have been traumatized by a host of things and the children of course act out, sometimes in ways that would shock the general public. I truly believe that the explosion in use of electronic devices, especially the i-Phone, have negatively impacted children's attention. And I'd say their parents have been distracted from their duties as well. Still, once in a blue moon, I hear lovely things. Last spring, the parent of a stellar student who I had six years ago, reached out to me to say that her son got into Tufts University and that I had taught him how to write well. A little wind in my sail, but there ain't enough of that to compensate for the daily grind that I feel. I'll be 60 in June and I really think it's a young person's game. I wouldn't recommend the profession to anyone unless we had a long chat regarding the realities that await them.

Peter T.