On August 16, I started this blog with a statement of purpose. I blathered on for awhile making a laundry list of things that I wanted to accomplish with the blog. I had never written for the public quite so regularly as this blog claimed it would do: a daily entry. Daily! What was I thinking? I’ve actually maintained that pace and have a number of pieces partly or completely written for future publication, but I can see how this is going to be difficult to maintain if I don’t work in periodic casual “this is what happened to day” reflections. We’ll see how long I can make it last.
I knew I’d be utterly overwhelmed at the beginning of the year — that’s fairly usual, but when you add in work to rule, a daily blog, and a number of other initiatives, it becomes almost comical. So this quick review of my ten goals is not going to be all that impressive, and several of them I can’t even think about touching for some time. I’m probably going to revamp the goals into multiple categories: short-term (things I want to knock out in the next few weeks), mid-term (items I want to address this year), and long-term (lofty goals for the future).
1 – Black History elective. That’s clearly a long-term goal, but to make it happen I have to put together a pitch for my supervisor and the Board of Education. So let’s call that a mid-term goal, just not one I can do anything with until things calm down. (Will they ever?)
2 – Refine US I H Capstone – Another mid-term goal. I need to do it for this year, but it doesn’t really begin until half-way through the year.
3 – First-half thematic project on agency for US I H – Short-term goal that I haven’t touched. This is a nice idea, but I’m not sure I’ll have the time — both in terms of my prep and regarding the time we have in class. I’ve managed at least to bring up the term in reference to the Native American people, urging my students to not regard them as mere victims. It’s a start, but not much of one.
4 – Local history in US 1 H – short-term for sure, but another one I haven’t had a chance to do anything with since the summer. I did do that work in the summer though, so that should be exploitable once I get to an appropriate spot in the curriculum.
5 – Refine AP GoPo – continuous short-term. I’ve been doing this, although not dedicating the time to it that I would like to. There are only so many hours in the day. But considering how well my students did on the exam last year, I should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water.
6 – Revise the Public Policy Project – Ooh, I did this one already! I kept it pretty simple, but I like how it came out. Thanks to Peter Paccone for some of the inspiration!
7 – Costa Rica – I’ve been working pretty steadily on this, though getting a meeting place in town has proven pretty difficult. I thought I had a place booked, but then had to cancel, then booked it again, but then had to cancel again because of an issue with insurance. So close. I haven’t had kids asking a million questions about the trip, so I’m a little concerned I won’t be able to make it happen. We’ll see…
8 – Lesson plans for Massachusetts Historical Society – DONE! See eight different blog entries in the last month. Phew.
9 – Fundraising – This is constant, ongoing. Debate has a plant sale this week, a car wash, clothing drive, and restaurant nights soon.
10 – Regularly write the blog – Achieved!
I also flagged doing a better job with gender and LGBTQ+ issues, but that’s fairly challenging in the early units, so hold on for that one…
In review, I have actually gotten more done than I thought. I’m probably going have to spend some time thoroughly revising the goals, divvying them up into categories, and so forth. Perhaps that will buy me some future blog entries where I consider JUST the short-term goals or only the long-term ones. Always thinking, “How can I use this in my blog?”
So okay, this was one of the least interesting blog entries to slough through, but tomorrow… TOMORROW IS KILLER. My interview with filmmaker David Van Taylor is some next level stuff, folks!
Fenster on Education 