Why is teaching like a gas?

It expands to fill its container.

Seriously.

I have really gotten grading under control this year by focusing on long term projects rather than lots of small homework assignments. But the extra time gets poured into planning better (and planning more, since I also have four health lesson plans to create each week). And so I find myself as busy as ever, if not more so.

My new project is to create a "Recycling Squad" - kids from each homeroom who will teach their peers why & how to recycle and make sure the classroom has a scrap paper box and the right set of color-coded wastebaskets and posters explaining how to sort your trash correctly.