Morning, all. Tired today. Running out of steam, and believe it or not, I’m running out of words. Need to recharge the ol’ batteries. Need summer.

I know some think that we teachers have the easy life, with summers off, etc. Yes, it is nice to have summers off–really nice, but it is also really necessary. I think one of the things that those outside the profession don’t always understand is the sheer amount of energy that teaching requires. I could not do what I do year round. I could not be “on” round the clock, round the calendar. It just simply takes too much, and it takes a toll, so when June rolls around, we, as the kids, are done. We’re tired. But it’s a good tired, a satisfying tired. It’s what makes it the best job in the world. We love it, and I think the public sometimes mistakes our love as evidence of easy. There is nothing easy about teaching. Ever. But, true, too, nothing worthwhile is ever easy, and nothing is more worthwhile than teaching.

For me it has been a whirlwind year that has brought many changes, the biggest being this blog and the resulting plan to turn things upside down. When this–a challenge from a student–all began, I really had no idea how it would go or where it would lead, but I am so pleased that it turned down the path it did, sending me on an adventure that has yet to really begin. I have a lot of planning to do this summer, which won’t allow for full recharge/recovery, but I am excited to focus fully on Project 180. Sharing updates with you along the way.

As such, though I will not be continuing with Morning Minutes into the summer, I, with some advice from my lovely wife, will post weekly updates. My fear is that I will lose some followers over the summer without the daily posts, but I need a break, and I suspect many of you do, too. My hope is that I can regain a following next fall, especially since if all goes according to plan, I will actually start walking, instead of just talking.

To date, there have been 141 posts, 376 comments, and 17,689 views on my blog. I am not sure how that stacks up in the broader blogosphere, but I am darn proud of the progress we have made in our first six months. “Our” being the key word here, for I could not do this without you all. Thank you so much for the continued support and encouragement you have given me. Our relationship gets me up in the morning–early in the morning, as I daily seek to share some insight and shed some light on the changes that I feel we must make in education. Thank you for keeping me on my toes. Thank you.

Happy Wednesday, all.