Using Summer and Family to Recharge and Reflect

One of the really great benefits of being a teacher is having the ability to have the summer off to grow professionally, spend time with family, and to relax and recharge for the following school year.  While I absolutely love my job as an educator at Lawrence school, it is necessary to have that time to reflect, play, and grow personally and professionally.  This past summer was filled with opportunities to do just that.  

Let’s start at the beginning.  Our first order of business was to take a trip across the country to Colorado to visit friends and then on to Phoenix, Arizona to visit family.  If you have ever traveled with very young children on an airplane, you can empathize with the challenges of packing, escorting, and most importantly feeding everyone along the way.  A hungry 3-year-old is a hangry 3-year-old.  I think some adults can relate as well.  Once we got past the logistics of traveling, we were off on a great adventure and had many great experiences in both the mountains and desert.  

The rest of the summer was spent either going to the lake by our house, commuting to Columbus for my wife’s job, and me trying to squeeze in as much golf as possible.  We even took our first stab at growing a garden, which was to our surprise, successful and delicious!  Professionally, I read many great books, such as The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros, which helped my refocus my teaching and learning for this year.  The learning part is the most important.  I am so excited to be blogging alongside my students and modeling what my love for learning looks like.

 

I do not think it can be overstated just how important that time with family and friends is over the summer and throughout the year to gain perspective and clarity for the following school year.  I relished the opportunity to go for long walks or runs in the morning with my son or take my daughter to the beach, swim out to the dock, and see her take a risk by jumping into the lake. Periodically getting some perspective on the things we value the most in this life, such as family, allow me to empathize with the things that my students value as well. My goal is to start with learning what interests them and where their strengths lie.  It is going to be an exciting year, that is sure to be filled with challenges, celebrations, and chaos. However, we will face these events head-on and enjoy the journey.