My Last Regular Blog Post for the Year!

Dear Readers:

I have a hunch many of you have already abandon me for the year! Your school year is probably over, or like mine, grinding to a slow death. There is something sad about the end of the the school year for me. Every year I look back at unfulfilled promises of the late summer and early fall. Kids I wanted to reach, lessons I wanted to teach, goals I wanted to achieve. Somehow there are always kids that "get away" from me...ones who I wished I could have made better connection with. I always end the year wishing I had taught something different. And the thing about goals is that they are just that, goals. Some get accomplished, some don't. The great thing about the teaching profession is that there is always a next year. It is what keeps us coming back, staying fresh, and becoming better at our craft.

This is my 43rd blog entry for this school year...and I am not finished yet. A week from today (I am writing this on Monday, Memorial Day) I will be flying to Daytona Beach (see the picture) for the AP Government and Politics Reading. Once there I will be doing a daily blog with interviews from readers, questions leaders, and hopefully the chief reader. I will try to keep you up to date on what is happening during the reading, how questions are progressing, and what to expect for grades from your students.

I hope you will follow along with me on this adventure. In fact, I hope that I inspire some of you to join me in the future and help with the reading process. I have said several times this year that if you are a fairly new APGOPO teacher, the thing that will improve your teaching the most is participating in the Reading. This well could be my last year of AP reading. It will be my eighth year and the following two summers I have vacation plans that will conflict with the reading schedule. So, this year, follow along with me in virtual reading land and next year head to Daytona in person!

I would like to take a second to thank my friends at Monterey Institution for Technology and Education for underwriting this blogging effort. I truly have appreciated their encouragement, patience, editing, and suggestions during this year. Their dedication has insured that Hippocampus remains an outstanding on-line teaching tool. Teacher supports, such as these blogging efforts, demonstrate the commitment to maintaining a user friendly education site. Great job MITE!

Next week...on site coverage from the APGOPO Reading in Daytona Beach...until then...RV