So we had graduation the other day. I've been so busy with all the stuff going on in and outside of school that it really snuck up on me. I didn't really notice that graduation was getting close until the day before, and now it's over. This graduation was not nearly as sad as some other graduations I have been to , even though these kids have been my kids for two years rather than the typical six months I spent at my previous schools. That's because graduating from the junior high school just means continuing on to the high school. So I will still be able to see my kids every day, because they'll be right downstairs. The ceremony itself was pretty much the same as other graduations, although it was mercifully somewhat shorter and had a lot less crying. And then we went drinking for 8 hours.

So now I have nothing to do at school, except clean my desk and wait for news of next year. It must seem like it's pretty late, since the new year starts in two weeks, but nothing has been decided yet about next year, including who the homeroom teachers are, who's getting fired or hired and so on. Well, I guess somewhere deep in the bowels of my bosses, it's all been decided. But none of it has been revealed to the employees yet. What happens to me next year is completely at the whim of the administrators, and has probably already been decided. They look at me when they see me, already knowing what's going to happen to me, and don't tell. I'm supposed to be a homeroom teacher for the entering first graders, but even that's not really a sure thing. The most important thing is who I'll be partnered with for homeroom, because that relationship is the key element in your success and happiness over the school year. They never pull homeroom teachers directly out of their asses, which is to say that the new homeroom teachers will be someone who already works in the school. Most of them would be really nice to work with, but some of them... not so much. Anyway, they should announce it in a few days, so I will let you know what happened once the shock wears off.