I can't wait for the holidays.

On top of the regular discipline issues we face at school, our team is working on a project where all subjects are integrated into a common theme. This semester's theme is Renaissance: Discovery and Exploration. Which is great if you're teaching English or World History.

In science, students worked on a 'wanted' poster of an astronomer from the Renaissance (or ancient times), a travel brochure and postcard from a planet other than Earth, and a short report on a NASA mission. That is as good as I could blend course objectives and this thematic unit stuff, a requirement for the 'talent development high school' program that our school has implemented and the grant money that comes along with it.

Competency testing also took place this week, so classes were extended and shuffled to accomodate this. If I were a young Buckaroo (a Team 500 student), I would be overwhelmed with all these projects for each class just before the holidays, and the odd scheduling.

It wasn't any easier as a Team 500 teacher, either. The class that I had to teach for an extended period of time was my troublesome second period. Thankfully, I made it through all five days. Now only if 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snow would fall on Monday or Tuesday...