Summer Break: Rest and Refocus

For the first time in my professional life, I have "time" in my hands during the summer months. As much as I'd love to take my foot of the gas pedal, I know that much work has to be done. AP Economics will be a new course offering, and I'm intent on hitting the bulls-eye right out of the gate. This class will be the eighteenth AP course at BDHS and there are aggressive goals put into place to drive expectations for students and faculty. Goals and expected outcomes are nothing new to me as the business world is filled with these each and every day. They require ongoing focus of the task and closely monitoring student progress. Advance Placement (a/k/a AP) classes are rigorous in their approach and the learning curve is intense. As a first-year AP teacher, I now have a new load to carry and it should be an interesting experience.

And so...my first three months of free time has been spent sharpening my skill-sets associated with creating a stimulating syllabus-course planner for AP Econ and getting up to speed with the necessary knowledge. In reflection I refer to these past days as 'intensity times ten'...cramming mega-amounts of content into my brain. It's one thing to think about Economics throughout the day, but when I start dreaming about economic principles I consider it a message from my inner self to TAKE A BREAK for a few days. And although there are still four weeks before the first day of school, there is a sense of urgency to complete the task I've started. I feel excited about diving into a new stream of knowledge, not for fear of failing, but for wanting to accomplish all I set out to do. Bring it on!