I know, I know...I had all summer

Is it wise to have a person who is so ADHD teaching kids? Do I sympathise too much when they miss a deadline or do I give them more time than they should have to finish things? What is is about deadlines that can first lull me into complacency and then throw me into sheer panic?

I knew about the conference since the spring. "I will have all summer to gather my information and have it all together," I convinced myself. Even though I have lived with myself for ### years I still have a tendency to believe this brain when it lies to me.

Okay, it wasn't really a lie. I did intend to spend my summer doing many things. I always do. And then it's September and I look at the pile of good intentions that were started, but never finished and think, "Well, I can finish these at Thanksgiving."

Truthfully, I did indeed work on my presentation. I did gather buckets and buckets of ideas and information. I did begin working on a webspiration and I did play with Prezi. But the problem is there's so much information there and from the beginning of the summer to the beginning of the fall more was added. Heck, every day something new comes along. How do you zero in on the good stuff and not waste time on the useless?

Oooo, I know, I know -- you rely on others in your group to help you by sharing their experiences, successes and failures.That's why I'm hoping that I can get some folks to network with me and share their amazing stories of educational wonderfulness. Experienced teachers know when things work and when they don't. We know we've done a great job when we see the lights clicking on in the eyes of our little charges and when we're falling flat on our faces when they just sit and look at you (or when they don't if you're in middle school). So help us all out -- do tell.