Readin', Writin', and Relationship Status

I spent the last two weeks of August furiously preparing my classroom for new students. (Yes, T. and J. are among them.) I stapled things to bulletin boards. I organized books by content and reading level. I ordered journals and a carpet for my reading area (thanks, Donors Choose!). I planned lessons on goal setting and perseverance. And after all that, I've discovered the one thing that gets my students more excited to learn than anything else.

The fact that I'm single.

In my 6th grade class, I overheard a whispered "Ms. G ain't got no boyfriend? I bet she wants to be married. I KNOW womens."

The first thing J. asked me when he walked in was "Ms. G, you still lonely?" (By "lonely", he meant single. So I guess the only correct answer is yes. Please excuse me while I jump off the nearest building.)

My 7th graders informed me that I'm going to "have to get used to dating rednecks" if I ever wanted to find someone. This was in the middle of our goal-setting lesson, which I guess is fitting since it's my goal to never, ever date a redneck.

My 8th graders asked why I'd noted in my syllabus that parents should call me before 8pm if they needed to reach me on my cell phone.

"SHE GOTTA TALK TO HER BOYFRIEND AT 8PM, Y'ALL!"  shouted one of my girls. 

"Ms. G ain't got no boyfriend, fool!" replied another girl. 

"Oh, then why we can't call you after 8pm Ms. G?"

Perhaps because (and I know this is hard to believe) I need at least an hour a day when I'm not thinking about work. Shocking, I know.

Sigh. Did I mention we've only gotten through the first week?