I hate 9th grade.

Here's a guaranteed formula for chaos:
2 hour delay + snow still falling + day after a weekend + substitute + 9th graders

Good god. I definitely earned my $90 today. I subbed in 9th grade world cultures, and I was ready to jump out a window about five minutes into first period. Here are a few reasons why I despise 9th grade:

9th graders love the sound of their own voices. The students were supposed to answer three questions in their journals and then take turns reading a short article aloud. However, they would not. shut. up. Nothing I did could make them stop talking and pay attention to the activities. In one class a guy yelled at his friend to get up because he was "smooshing" his backpack, and his friend said, "You said it like 'schmooooshing!' That's hilarious!" and thus "schmoooosh" became a part of every sentence every student uttered for the rest of the period.

9th graders have to touch each other ALL the time. The guys spend every free moment of class punching and grabbing each other, and the girls need to sit in each other's laps or drape their arms over one another constantly.

9th graders are a different breed of people. Seriously, they're just WEIRD. In one class, I introduced myself, and a guy in the back immediately jumped up, called my name, and jubilantly added, "Catch this football!" and promptly lobbed it at me. So I caught the football and the class cheered for me, and then we just blinked at each other for a few seconds. Later that period, another boy pulled his sweatpants up over his chest, and the rest of the class seemed to think this was the funniest, cleverest thing they'd ever seen, so they wouldn't shut up about his damn sweatpants for the rest of the period.

So yes, it was a long day. I hope I don't have to sub in 9th grade for a long, long time.