March is always the longest month of the year for me. Since my life revolves around a school schedule, this is the time when I can see the end of the year but it’s still fairly far away, the start of the year seems eons ago, and the realization that the ambitions I held to do this, this and that are not going to come to pass before the 2010/2011 school year turns its last page.

But if I step on the gas, I know I can make sure I at least do this… or that.

Or something. So March is when I MAKE A PROJECT.

Look, March is a 5 week month. At least there are 5 Tuesdays, 5 Wednesdays, and 5 Thursdays in this month and ostensibly, those should be the most productive work days of my week. Point is, the time is there. Additionally, I always feel it’s great to ensure that I have something tangible in my hand that I have really done after long slogs of time if for no other reason than the sense of actual accomplishment. March is a month where minutes can all-too-easily slip into hours, hours into days and days into an entire month. Doubt me? Just where-oh-where did February go?

It’s that sense which drives me to advocate for making a project in the month of March. It can be a personal project for my life outside of work lines (like exercise, build a tree swing, read a really thick by James Joyce) or it can be a work thing (like bringing Project-Based Learning into the classroom, locking down an outline for my next book or following up with that long lost uncle in Ghana who has all this gold bullion waiting for me once I give him my social security number).

But have something to show by April Fool’s Day because on 4-1-2011, the first third of this year will be over… and the question of what will I have to show for my time will be on my mind.

Don’t ya just wish that somebody would just stand up and shout APRIL FOOL’S!!

Remember when we said we were cutting 5 instructional days off of this year’s academic calendar and 7 day’s off of next year’s academic calendar so that your students would a lot less time in class when really, we all know that they need more?

APRIL FOOL’S!!

Remember when we told you that pounding all your students with poorly constructed bubble tests would give us insightful assessment data that we could use to better direct classroom instruction?

APRIL FOOL’S!!

Remember, when we told you that we were going to bring equity to classrooms across the country by fairly funding schools across the nation so that we could provide the proper resources you need to do your jobs well?

Okay, we never told you that…but if we did you’d know to shout out APRIL FOOL’S!!

Methinks the Fools doth believe they are not acting as such — and that makes them not just April Fools but ones that wear this badge of honor all year round.