Sunday night marks two weeks until school starts—give or take, anyway, since students return to classes on a Wednesday. So I’ll no longer be sleeping in, and soon I’ll have to start wearing nicer clothes. But the work load shouldn’t be much different because I’m already in a bit of school already. I’m an English teacher, and our students get summer reading projects. Summer reading means summer writing, and the essays—due on the first day of class—are already coming in aplenty. Which is GREAT, because believe it or not, teachers love to hear from students early on.

Students are not just turning in their work now, but also asking me questions about their texts and writing. And I love engaging—and especially with the early (read: prepared) ones. Lately I’ve spent more time on the computer replying to students and grading than watching videos, or replying to emails my parents send, and I’ve also been doing a fair amount of less-planning. And I’ve realized there’s one very good tell-all that summer is coming to a close. Nope, it isn’t the weather! Until this last week, I signed a majority of my messages “Jeff.” Now, however, a majority of my messages end with the prefix “Mr.”

Time to get used to it for the next nine months!

–Jeff and Leah