Like all teachers in PA, I have to earn 180 hours of Act 48 credits to keep my certification active. (Active, not valid, because my level two cert is permanent but it can become inactive if I don’t do these hours).

I sat down with the SAS system and signed up for a number of on-line courses. I started one — Teaching in the 21st Century: The Need for Change — with my usual drinking from an ashtray face on — but with each day and each assignment, I’m liking the work more and more. It’s not that questions or assignments are particularly novel. Some are good and some are mundane. It’s that I’m being forced to think deeply about what I’m doing (and what we’re doing) in our school. And I’m being forced to write about it, even for a teacher/professor I’ve never met and will likely never meet. It’s surprisingly (and shockingly) helpful.