Northeast region and the Megalopolis

"Alright now that we've done our bellringer today we're going move on to a map of the Northeast region. Pull out the map worksheet I passed out to you, put that yellow sheet aside for now we're going to work on that in a bit. Alright so to the left of your map write the words 'New England.'"
I said that six times today, and I certainly said a lot more than that. I think I have the states and capitals down pretty good now, after doing it six times today. I think that is one of the tough things about teaching, saying your spiel six times everyday. By eighth period I know what works and what doesn't and I usually have it pretty well rehearsed. I love my students it's just a huge learning experience and to be honest learning curve. To all my readers, which are few but still, it is getting better. I was pretty strict yesterday and I have to say 'no' about 35 times a day to all sorts of requests but I think they are getting the picture that they will not be able to do what they want in my classroom. One of my students in first period called it controlled chaos, which it kind of is.
Oh so the Megalopolis is the string of huge cities that stretches from Boston to D.C. We talked a little about that today. It is pretty fun to teach kids new things, because I'm pretty sure that although some will forget that some will remember what the Megalopolis is.

8th Grade Humor: Nude Hamsters=New Hampshire  Concord Jet= Concord. The capital of New Hampshire is Concord. Every time I said "Nude Hamsters" I had an eruption of laughter. 

It's a nude hamster!!! Okay It's a naked mole rat.