Pumpkin Spice

It's September and that means two things in New York - back to school and pumpkin spice everything. Getting back into the swing of things is always hard - new faces, new ideas, and adjusting to getting up at 5 am. As I begin my fourteenth year of teaching, I like to believe I have the first few classes down to a science. I get to know my students, they get to know me, we go over expectations, take a glance at the syllabus and we're off!

This year, however, there are a few differences. First off, we've had more 90 degree days in late September than we had all summer and I'm kind of over it. I'm not only in the role of the teacher this year, but also the student. And therefore, I've thrown a wrench into my typical plans to try something new. After all, that is the beauty of teaching - something different every day.

As a student, I was tasked with developing my own ePortfolio (yes, this very one). I immediately fell in love with the notion, autonomy, and potential with a digital domain so I decided to introduce the idea to my students. We are still in the beginning of our process, but I'm hoping they quickly take off with the freedom and opportunities ePortfolios present.

After getting through the logistics and red tape of internet security in a high school setting, introducing the purpose of the portfolios to students went smoother than I expected.

As September comes to an end, upstate NY will be back to our normal 60 degree days, nights perfect for bonfires, and enough pumpkin spice for anything imaginable.