I have said it many times before — as a middle school teacher, you sort of get in the habit of saying things over and over, and over and over, and over – - seventh graders are some of the most conservative creatures on the planet. One of their favorite three-word phrases is, “this is boring,” but any change in routine or in what it was like before, and they flip out. It’s both fun to watch and a bit of a pain in the heinie. A couple of days ago (where the @#$$ did this week go?) I realized that one of the reasons my classroom is arranged the way it is doesn’t exist any more. I used to use an old school overhead projector (still the piece of teaching equipment with the best cost/benefit ratio) and a 32 inch monitor for clicker screens and video and such. I couldn’t put them side by side, so I had one on each side of the room, and arranged the kids’ desks in short (3) rows facing each other, so they could see both displays. Awww, just look: At the top of this pic would be the overhead display, at the
