As educators, don't you just love it when someone says-- Oh, you're a teacher/principal/administrator . . . . What do you DO all summer? ALL summer. I know the impression is that we are off for 3 whole months, but I can't remember a day that I sat in my office with my feet up eating bon-bons, that's for sure.
In the last 53 days, I've been busy. I've spent more than half of those days working with teacher teams, writing curriculum and planing new learning for our students. I've met with teachers to discuss innovative projects and start a grant writing team. We've planned school-wide design challenges and for a little inspiration we visited innovative places in and around our city. We've collaborated with other school districts and built relationships with those in our community. We've spent time with our leadership team, setting goals, planning professional development, and building excitement for a year of new beginnings.
I've done some things so that I can grow as a professional, as well. I spent several days at a national conference and presented on STEAM and Maker Education. A few more days were spent at local workshops, too. I've attended county-wide meetings and a regional summit on STEM education. In my free time, I published a blog or two and an article that will run in a national magazine. I wrote four grants and two conference proposals for this coming year. In an effort to meet my 60 books in 2016 challenge, I've read 20 books, including some great educational books. (Kids Deserve it, Innovator's Mindset, and Launch have all been really inspiring!) It's been a busy summer-busy with activity, reflection, and growth.
SO, if you're not in education, please talk to teachers and principals. Find out about all of the things that happen over the summer to prepare for a new year. (I didn't even mention completing state and federal reports, ordering new books and materials, interviewing and welcoming new faculty and staff, coordinating services for students, overseeing renovation projects, meeting with parents, orienting new students to the district, reviewing files, responding to emails, attending board meetings, and on and on.) We are doing so much over the summer, professionally and personally, so that the first day of school is a success. We devote our time to preparing for students so that they come to school energized and ready to learn. August is an exciting time of year. While I'd love to sit poolside and finish my bon-bons, there's more work to do!
Best wishes for a wonderful school year :-)
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