Sunday, November 04, 2007

What I did on my Summer Vacation - An Essay

It's a stereotype (legend?) that when youngsters go back to school after Summer vacation, the teacher always assigns the essay entitled "What I did on my Summer Vacation". I think the teacher was actually being sneaky.

First, it's a great initial lesson plan, a gimme. When you start your lesson plans for the year, it is probably a great way to bust writers block. Also, I think these plans are passed on year to year so it becomes ingrained in tradition.

Second, all the kids (who did something more than just watch TV for the Summer) want to tell their friends about what they did. When you get back to school, you may see some friends that you haven't seen for awhile. There is a lot of chatter in class until all the greetings and storytelling is done. This essay circumvents much of that discussion.

I've essentially been gone a year so I probably owe more than an short essay, right?

Nah, here's a list. Essays to follow.

Took some classes on something completely new.
Took some classes on something that I've been working on awhile.
Became a Mac geek.
Dealt with some serious illness in my family.
Altered the 'World Domination' bullet in my 5 year plan to 'World Influence'.

More to follow...