ABSTRACT

As a first-year teacher, I must have heard a thousand times in the past nine months, “Wait until winter break...,” and “if you can just make it until spring break...,” and “You'll be amazed at what an expert teacher you'll feel like when you return from summer break.” And finally I've reached the summer break and I have the chance to not do anything even remotely related to school; and, yet, I'm feeling this desire to reflect on my first year of teaching and where I'm at in my career. I ask my students to do this all the time; shouldn't I do the same?