"Who's doing a favor for who?"

This is a video using Lady Gaga's Bad Romance in contect of women's suffrage. Love it! (Has nothing to do witih the post but ...)

The summer is an odd time for a teacher. We are on hiatus but not really on hiatus. For those who say we only work nine months of the year I would say that is almost correct and not correct at all. Summer is a change in rhythm. Think of it like a marathon runner inbetween races or an actor in between gigs. The 13 weeks off gives us a chance to look at the past year, take a breath and prepare for the next one.

So this summer, I will offer updates on my travel to DC for an econ and politics conference as well as a week at Ford's Theater, but I will also pull back the curtain on what it is I do to prepare for the class of 2017 (wow, just wow).

Yesterday was graduation for TIS and, with the exception of two stangers who wanted to show us their shortcomings, it was lovely to see these young women and men achieve this milestone. These were the first students I ever taught and so these charges are special to me. One of the nicest moments for me was to be invited by a student to attend the senior breakfast as his guest. His words were humbling and he doesn't know what his invitiation meant to me. There is a song that says, "I don't think I'm supposed to tell you what this means to me ... who's doing a favor for who?"

Today, I'm back in the classroom finishing a project that I've been working on since last fall. Finally, a quiet morning and afternoon to complete it. That's the thing alot of people don't understand about teaching. The focus is on kids and sometimes administrative things get bumped. A school day can be 12 hours or more when you're in the classroom, at the games and concerts, grading like a fiend and overseeing the drama that is teen angst. It is surreal sometimes to be in a quiet classroom and building.

Well, back to work...