Finished

The grades are submitted, my classroom is clean, and all my valuables are locked away; it's summer vacation. For those of you who don't already know: I've got a job at the same school next year. It's such a relief to a.) know that I'm still employed (AND on tenure track AND a step up the pay scale) next year and b.) don't have to fill out those God-awful job applications. Seriously, those were the worst part of last summer, and now I can spend summer being me and doing what I want to do.

This summer, I have a regimen of independent study. I'll be studying for the GRE's, sure, but the more entertaining things I plan on studying include: Japan, cars (I got some great resources from the Auto teacher), nations' capitals, and (if time) US presidents (the last two are for trivia knowledge, which I want to develop). I also plan on reading a few books from the English department library: A Day No Pigs Would Die, Whale Talk, As I Lay Dying, Memory Boy. Plus, I want to catch up on some YA (young adult) books I've missed: The Outsiders, Holes, Paper Towns, Kit's Wilderness, Nation, Breaking Through. That's a lot more books than I usually do in a summer, but maybe it'll happen this year. Set your sights high, you know? Almost forgot: I've got many resources to read up on Read 180, the course-in-a-box I'll be teaching this fall. It's a double-block class with only 15 students per class – a real shift in perspective.

Of course, there are videogames to play, start, finish, and enjoy.

To finish: Uncharted 2, Mario Galaxy 2, Final Fantasy VII, Little Big Planet(?), Valkyria Chronicles, Half Life 2, and maybe that Shenmue file I've been putzing with.

To start: Fallout 3, possibly Metroid Other M, and maybe some summer purchase like Red Dead Redemption.

More related to teaching, I'll be taking an AP certification course later this month, which I'm excited about. My department chair thinks I might be teaching AP Lit during the 2011-2012 school year – I would be a fan of this decision.

The main goal for me next year is to do better with intervention. I should take a colleague's suggestion and call parents of struggling students during dinner time, which would be an improvement over my calling no parents at all. I can really be doing so much more for the students who need to be pressured into caring about their grades. The number of failing grades in my class this year was a few too many. More than classroom management, more than knowing enough about the content, more than teaching strategies: intervention has been my greatest challenge this year.

I expect my next post will be about the AP certification course. That is, if I'm not preoccupied with the trip (the flight leaves the day after the course is over). You'll hear about it eventually, whether you want to or not. Have a good summer.

-Matt