For most of us in the US, it is holiday break time. For many of us, that means time with family and friends and some down time to rest and recover. For many teachers it also means catching up. Catching up on jobs around the house as well as catching up on schoolwork. Honestly, most of you brought grading home to do didn’t you? I know I did. But it is also a good time to reflect and plan.

If you are anything like me you are looking back on the school year so far and taking stock of what worked and what didn’t. Where did you go too fast and where did you go too slowly? I teach semester courses so the middle of January I get to start over again. I’m spending time thinking about how I will do things differently next semester.

Teachers of full-year courses, especially you Advanced Placement teachers, are probably looking at your plan for the year and trying to figure out how you are doing with coverage. Are you behind? Ahead? What adjustments can you make?

Most people who are not classroom teachers have little idea of how much energy teachers spend on school during the break.

As you think about the short term, as important as that is, it is not too early to start thinking about summer professional development plans. The CSTA Annual Conference is probably the best chance to learn from and network with other computer science educators. Is it in your summer plans?

Alfred Thompson
At-large member, CSTA Board