Fall Break is here

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I have been so looking forward to this break, but this year is different. I usually look forward to fall break because I'm behind and need a week to get caught up. This year I'm looking forward to it so that I can change things up in my classes. I have been doing pretty well keeping on up on things and so now it's time to switch things up. I am nearing the end of volleyball - yay!!!  And so that will be gone.

It's been a real learning experience this year though. For some reason, I've been more on it and much more interested in setting up established curriculum. Every year in chemistry I have to think, okay, what am I doing now. A couple of weeks ago I purchased some small binders and I'm slowly working on getting things put into units and in them so I don't have to recreate the wheel every single year. I put the one together for the current unit yesterday. Over break I would like to get the ones done that will take me to fall break. Initially I was going to do all my classes, but honestly, my AP classes are such a hot mess they need more attention then binders can provide. I will be working on gettng them organized also, but I might do something different for them.

Last weekend I went on a trip to DC. It was really fun and quite eye-opening. It was a completely paid weekend and was put on by the Society for Science and the Public. They have a number of STEM competitions during the year for students and the students can win some serious money for college. We do nothing like that at my school and I really think some students would be interested and good at it. So I talked to the principal briefly and my department head and we are going to talk about it. It will take some work, but I think ultimately it will be worth it.

While there I got a chance to cruise around DC for a few hours. They took us on a night tour and then before our plane left we had some time to explore on our own. I have to transfer the pictures to Google Drive so I will post them later. Now, it's time to figure out what I'm doing this break. It has got to be productive.


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