Countdown to Spring Break

If there's one thing I know how to do, it's how to structure the week before spring break. In both of my classes - my large lecture freshman-level Intro to Ethics class and my smaller sophomore-level class in political philosophy - we are having midterms this week. So Monday was a review session for the exam in both classes, and a very helpful review session it was, if I do say so myself. Today we have the midterm. And on Friday? Well, on Friday, we won't have class, as many students will already have departed for spring break, plus we all need some recovery time from the midterm and just some time for mid-semester catching of our breath.

I'm also trying to clear my desk of various other projects so that I can turn my thoughts to spring break unemcumbered. I'm finishing up a batch of five book reviews for Children's Literature, meeting with a mentee to discuss six chapters of her novel-in-progress, writing up classroom observations for my TAs, and writing up answers to interview questions for two profiles - one for the SCBWI summer retreat for which I'm serving as leader/facilitator and one for the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers workshop in Utah for which I'm serving as faculty. And I made a Powerpoint presentation to show at a school in Missouri, which asked me to have some visuals to share with the children (well, I hired a fabulous grad student to come to my house and make it for me).

Oh, it is so satisfying to be crossing all these things off my list, with spring break lying ahead. Of course, the downside of doing the midterms the week before spring break is that now there will be midterms to grade during spring break. But they will go fast. And I'll also be away in Missouri for part of the time at the Children's Literature Festival sponsored by the University of Central Missouri, with a school visit to follow. Still, above all, there will be time during spring break to do what I love best in the world: write.

Three more days....