New Year, New Mindset: A Garden of Ideas

Summer always feels like an invitation to breathe differently. It's a good respite after 10 long months of teaching. It's a time and space to create life differently, reset, and refresh.

This time of year, teachers everywhere are doing what I am: reflecting on their summer, readying for the racetrack ahead. We all are taking in how the summer went, making mental notes of how we want to shape the school year ahead.

So, looking back: did I dabble in some back to school techno-babble, digging into the world of AI, lesson planning, sharpening skills through some professional development over summer? Of course I did... because that's what we teachers do. We grow our skills. 

But I'm happy to say it certainly wasn't a summer of "all work and no play." I made plenty of time for reading, pool-lounging, sleeping in, running around with my family, working out, road-tripping, appreciating my husband's gardening and the fruits his labor (or rather: vegetables), and more. 3 cheers for sun & fun, and R & R!

Stepping away from structure and slipping into the slower side of summer definitely includes travel, as I mentioned last week. Travel is the ultimate teacher:

• In Quebec City, I could see the connectedness of both history and people as I stood in this fortified city, gazing upon centuries-old walls that were originally designed to protect, but now serving as an embrace of the many who gather in this multicultural city. 

• In Montreal, I stood amongst the 1976 Olympic Park, now reimagined & "repurposed" through innovation to bring joy to visitors by way of the Biodome and surrounding sights that are now a concert stadium, a pool, a planetarium, and more. The same could be said of my experience at Bota Bota Day Spa, a former ferry boat turned health and wellness oasis.

• In the Midwest, I drove stretches of highway from Chicago to the center of the state to reunite with family... much in the same way I walked stretches of beach in Ocean City, Maryland. This opened time and space to think about pace: in life, in the moment, and even ultimately thinking forward to this fall's school year and how I want to run my classes.

The destinations changed, but the throughline stayed the same: 

Connection. Curiosity. Perspective.

These 3 guiding principles are the same things I want to bring back with me to the upcoming school year and to my classroom. 

Teaching, like traveling, is not about the destination, but rather the journey. It's about what grows and happens in between. It's what we take in when we slow down and let the unexpected shape us. Teaching too is like gardening. It is the roots that anchor everything down. They support the growth and harvest ahead.

Connection, curiosity, and perspective do all of this.

Before the first school bell rings, here are some nature-centric points to ponder while putting up bulletin boards, unpacking boxes, and setting up shop. Plant these questions like seeds in your mind. Growth comes from steady care and the courage to nurture what matters. 

🌱 How can I "grow forward" this school year ahead?

🌱 What connections can I make (to both people, students, and ideas)?

🌱 Where can I grow in my curiosity and shift my perspective?

🌱 How can I innovate and create when needed, shooting and rooting for potential not perfection?

🌱 How can I remind myself that "letting go" is part of growth: letting go of expectations, self limitations, fear of failure, control (always a hard one), the past and "how things have always been done." One thing I’m letting go of this year… 

🌱 How can I make it a year to stretch, branch, and bloom....as a person, as a teacher, as a global citizen in a partisan world, as an educator navigating this ever-expanding edtech world?

🌱 How can I teach smarter not harder, always aligning with these values?

🌱 This year, I want to feel more ______ in my teaching.

🌱 A student strength I want to notice (or encourage) more this year… 

🌱 A space in my classroom I want to reimagine or make more alive… 

🌱 One edtech tool I’m excited to try (or try differently)… 

🌱 One way I’ll bring more nature, climate awareness, or global acceptance into my classroom…

Images created at Canva.com

Ahhhh, Summer! The Glory Days for Teachers!

I don't think I can fully put into words what it means to be a teacher who reaches summer vacation. No matter how much we love our job, summer is a sublime respite. 

By the time we get there, there's total truth to the statement: "There's no tired like end-of-the-year-teacher tired." 

This year, my school did a total box-up, prepping for the next school year in portables (aka: "educational cottages") as our school undergoes a major rebuilding project. So it takes the above statement to a new level: "There's no tired like end-of the year-teacher tired topped with packing an entire elementary school." The movers started in earnest, carrying away boxes and furniture the day after school got out this week. It's going to be a multi-day event! My room was already packed, so I was helping others with fully-packed rooms of instruments, art supplies, and science equipment. There's a lot of stuff in schools, that's for sure!

So as I'm sitting at the cusp of summer, with the glory of summer days, down time, pool fun, day trips, personal projects, and more ahead... I know a large part of summer for me (in addition to relaxation and recalibration) is also free exploration and time to soak in what I want to learn. I have my books I want to read (because "reading season is here"), but I also have websites and podcasts to explore. Maybe this is because my profession is me: I'm a teacher and a lifelong learner. The two go hand in hand.

One of my first stops is going to be a recent Facebook page/website discovery I've made: Educators Technology. (He's on all the other socials too--check out his About page.) In addition to the topic being the core of my being, Educators Technology has a wealth of resources, graphics, articles, and more to ponder, investigate, and dive into. It's a blog that was started in 2010 by Canadian educator Med Kharbach, PhD, and now 15 years later is highly acclaimed, referenced, and followed by K-12 educators. His simple yet detailed infographics drew me in from his Facebook page. 

Here are some great resources for my educator friends out there from Educators Technology. (If necessary, click images for clearer versions). Best part--learning happens on our schedule. Maybe at the pool, possibly the beach with sand between our toes, or between naptime and cocktail hour!  Cheers!

Intro image from https://www.secondaryenglishcoffeeshop.com/2017/06/schools-out-for-summer-teacher-challenge.html

Infographic images from https://www.facebook.com/Edtechandmobilelearning?_rdc=1&_rdr

Heading Back to School: 2024-2025

There are certain traditions that teachers have during Back to School season. In the past, mine (along with probably millions of other teachers) have always included: 

• shopping for new markers, 
• setting up a fresh planbook, 
• perking up the place with new bulletin boards, 
• readying the classroom for the upcoming year, 
• soaking up all that summer energy I've gained to get back on track for the next 9-10 months ahead with the new crop of students.

One of my GTG traditions also is to be a little reflective while simultaneously trying to sink into that inspirational space for anyone who might be in my same place. Adjusting to that transitional overlap between letting go of the sweet taste of summer in order to settle into the career I chose and love. 

Case and point, Exhibits A-H:  2023 - 2022 - 2021 - 2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2016 - 2015

Given all of that, back to school season can be a little bittersweet for us teachers! Our days of sleeping in are over, along with the relaxed schedules with our own friends and family, reading books, enjoying pool time-naptime-vacation time, sharpening our skills with our own personal development (school or otherwise), recovering from the previous year and resting up for the next. It was a pretty good gig. 

But the days bring us closer to that back to school business. Students and teachers alike have that summer underway, but not every summer is idyllic as the prior paragraph. 

• Sometimes summers can be bumpy with personal situations (whether circumstantial, health, aging, and otherwise for both ourselves, our kids, our parents, and our friends). 
• Some teachers (due to teacher salaries, affordability, and cost of living) have worked all summer to supplement their income. 
• Sometimes there's continuing education classes necessary to keep up teaching credentials and more. 
• Some people also just respond better to life with the consistency of routines in place--sometimes a blessing and a curse of summer when they are absent. 
• Sometimes you get hit hard by the whiplash of not much going on in the summer that harshly contrasts the start of the school year's "exploded calendar syndrome." This really hit hard when my own kids entered high school and I had sports practices, school meetings, social events, and a myriad of everything else in between hitting the calendar in a majorly overwhelming way!
• Not every kid went to amazing camps or on stellar vacations (if any at all). 
• Not all homes are the safest of places. 
• Sometimes it's daunting to come back. I remember my 2nd year of teaching once I'd had kids. Although I was a seasoned teacher, I also now was becoming a seasoned working mom, and it particularly stung that year because I knew full well how hard BOTH jobs were!

All proving the complications of the back to school season. One person's perfect icebreaker may be another person's nightmare question. 

Whether your motivation is in mint condition or still a little on the shaky side going into this next school year, here are some articles that may speak to you one way or another as you are readying yourself for this new year and fresh start ahead.

• Teaching in Blue Jean's "5 Words of Encouragement for Teachers"
• Really good reminders on any hard day of teaching. They are destined to bring you back a little closer to center.

• Engaging Their Minds post by Terri Eichholz "Back to School Inspirational Videos for Teachers"
• Be sure to check out her links to her Pinterest board and also her Wakelet links to catch these videos after reading her article.

• ThoughCo's "7 Back to School Tips for Teachers"
• Good ideas for creating the tone you want for the beginning of the year.

• DISC Insight's "Back to School Motivation for Teachers" 
• This is a post advertising some of DISC Insight's products, but the main points are clear without the products.

One of the biggest things I've read lately was in reference to something else completely, but I feel it holds here to the beginning of the school year--for teachers, parents, and students alike. The biggest (and maybe hardest in this social media oriented world in which we live) is "You Be You." What does that mean?

• 
  Take things at your pace. 
• Do what works for you. 
• Resist the urge to compare to your next door neighbor--whether that's the house next door or the teacher buddy's classroom next door. 
• There are a lot of ways to navigate transitions.
• Ff you are gung ho & gangbusters and all in with energy--super. But it's okay if you are a more filled with trepidation and traveling on tiptoes. 

That level of authenticity will help you find your groove. And once you do, you will soar. As will your adventures ahead for this school year!

Images created on canva.com--images created using Canva's magic tools with back to school classroom prompts.

Canva Design School: Teacher Essentials

A new school year is a-coming, fast and furious! Ready or not, here it comes!

Given that factor, it's always good to start the year fresh--fresh in your classroom design and fresh with new skills.

Canva, one of my go-to favorites when it comes to digital design, has a brand new Canva Design School module called "Teacher Essentials." You can really up your game with your presentations, bulletin boards, forms and classroom printables with their 7 lesson design course, made just for teachers. Even better, Canva knows how busy teachers are, so you can work through the lessons and even build in some Canva practice and play time, and bump up your skills in less than an hour.

Check it out here:  Canva Design School: Teacher Essentials.

Also, if you are a teacher and haven't joined Canva for Education, make time to check out my post on that. It opens up a wealth of additional tools in Canva for you--always free for teachers.

And as you are trekking down the rabbit hole of amazing things over at Canva for teachers, be sure to check out this amazing collection of Graphic Organizers for classroom use, designed by Canva creators and curated by the San Antonio Independent School District. Tons of amazing graphic organizers on all of the following, pictured here.

Screenshot from https://www.canva.com/designschool/courses/teacher-essentials/?lesson=boost-creativity-magic-studio and https://www.canva.com/design/DAFMyLVL8e0/VFXNoPFq27ppbHjVlnRYtg/view?website#4:menu

Graduation Season

School years are wrapping out and both teachers and students are getting out of school. One of my favorite times of the year as it is like sitting on the cusp, with the hopes, dreams, and promises of summer just ahead. It's whatever you want it to be.

Each school year end is like its own min-graduation. Along those lines and thinking of that, I think I'm at my own personal 32nd school year graduation. 

My personal reflection and celebratory photo is above.

But then there are the bigger milestones. Kindergarten celebrations where the littles are decidedly "not-so-little" anymore. The 5th grade promotions to middle school. The 8th grade official moves to high school. The high school graduations into the world of adulthood. The college commencements celebrating additional studying and degrees to further your career.

This year I attended 4 graduation ceremonies. For some people, that would be a level of major overkill. I personally am rather fond of these milestone events. I enjoy these official transitions with their pomp and circumstance. During these events, I heard some really powerful graduations speeches this year, filled with a lot of powerful metaphors. Believe it or not, I was tickled when one speech tied growth the the interconnectedness and communication and biodiversity within forests (aptly named the "Wood Wide Web").

One of my favorites this year was a resurgence in my world by the viral speech from several years ago by Navy Seal Admiral McRaven. His "Make Your Bed" speech was the one he delivered at the 2014 University of Texas Commencement Address. We've probably all seen it a number of times over the past 10 years. It was referenced in some digital decision making curriculum I have for my 4th graders, so I shared this video overlay version with both them. I also shared it with our 5th graders, who were knee deep in writing their own promotion speeches for their moving up ceremony. All classes were riveted and gave it a spontaneous round of applause--for of course in their 10 years, they hadn't seen this 10 year old speech. 

Good words of reminder, and a graduation season is the best time for it! May it inspire your next season ahead, whatever that is for you!

Photos created with my own pictures in the Pic Edu app. Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBAqF00gBGk.

Contemplating the Complicated Emotions That Come With Back to School Season

Back to School season always hits me with such a myriad of emotions. 

I love teaching and I love my job (especially as it has evolved over the years). I adore my fellow colleagues and always learn so much from them and appreciate how teachers have a wonderfully wicked sense of humor. I thrive on those "ah-ha" moments that my students have when they learn something new or that connection finally clicks for them. I do a silent "yes" (arm & fist "yes" gesture included) when I see student struggle coalesce into confidence and complete understandings. In my role as Tech Specialist, I get the opportunity to experience that with my teachers learners too when they also acquire new tech skills I have taught them. I have a true love of learning, soaking up new trends and seeking to continually becoming wiser within my field.  

BUT...I love my summers!!! They are so hard to say goodbye to. Teachers are blessed with having this 6-12 week block off in the summer to relax, refresh, and rejuvenate between school years. Time to "BE"--off schedule, outside, at the pool, napping, reading, less stressed! In my 30+ years of teaching, I've seen the people who see "teacher summer" as decadent and perhaps like to laugh at the concept of "easy living." But then there are the people I know, love, and live with who see how vital that summer block is for decompressing, reflecting, and reinvigorating to prepare for all the demands that teachers face during the 9-10 month school year. Even moreso, here in the post-Covid world of 2020 and 2021, Many of us still are in recovery mode, warding of the PTSD of pandemic teaching, given the demands of that era of education seems to be the gifts that keep giving.

So now, here we are, at the front end of another school year. 

I have been experimenting a lot lately with ChatGPT. while playing around with it, I fed it the prompt "back to school season" and it spit out 5 paragraphs about what all that 4 word phrase entails. I then typed in the following prompt: 

"Using the information listed above, write a lighthearted, positive welcome back poem to teachers, elevating them for the school year ahead, and paying tribute to all of the things they do for their students and students' families all year long. Honor them as unsung heroes and wish them good tiding for a super year ahead. "

ChatGPT responded with a 7 stanza poem (in less than 60 seconds, of course), showcasing its power and prowess. As one should do when using generative artificial intelligence, I read through it, generated a few versions through the AI, merged a few, then made it my own by sprinkling in a bit of me. Full disclosure, it was a combined work, with ChatGPT getting a bulk of credit for it. (Demonstrating good practice, I've credited it below.). Here's the outcome:

Ode to Back-to-School Season & Our Teachers

Goodbye dear summer and our teacher delight,

The time has come for school to resume its flight.

Adventures lie ahead within classrooms we'll share,

With backpacks and supplies, all readily prepare.

Unsung champions, mentors so true,

Through challenges faced, teachers help us breakthrough.

From numbers and words, to wisdom's embrace, 

Teachers light every paths with knowledge and grace.

Teaching so much more than mere words on a page, 

Cultivating wisdom and hearts that engage,

Teachers do it with patience and care each day,

Providing students a chance to learn, laugh, and play.

So here's to you, Teachers, with hearts of gold, 

As the new school year's story starts to unfold. 

May your classrooms resound with joy and with cheer,

As we wish you super success for a very good year.

Just as each new year is unique and different, teachers need to embrace the changes and challenges that lie ahead. With the growing questions and curiosities and concerns and celebrations of AI, this quote spoke to me. I found in the public AI Classroom Facebook Group. The quote is by author Amanda Fox, coauthor of The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education (and co-written by Dan Fitzpatrick and Brad Weinstein). I like the focus on collaboration and the importance of mixing human intelligence (HI) and artificial intelligence (AI) together to make something better than before. [Vicki Davis, known as "Cool Cat Teacher" and the creator of "The 10 Minute Teacher" podcast has written a lot about the combination of HI + AI.]

Teachers, may your upcoming school year greet you with good energy and adventure for what is ahead. May we all serve as inspiration to each other, lift each other up on the hard days, and make amazing memories during the year ahead.

Poem above modified and shortened from 3 generated poems by Chat GPT on August 19th, 2023 using the prompt listed above, quote image from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=670851428412638&set=a.591901022974346&type=3; back to school image created at Canva.com and https://www.excitededucator.com/home/back-to-school-resources

End of the School Year Reflection

This week marks the end of my school year. I think if I'm counting correctly, it's the end of my 31st year of teaching. I suppose that makes me a well-established veteran teacher. But the funny thing about teaching is that the more you know, the more you realize you don't know. Not to mention, there's always something new in terms of trends (including those from the last few years with remote, hybrid, and pandemic teaching), and kids evolve and change. Kids I'm teaching now in this post-Smartphone & AI-era are much different than those in my first year of teaching in the early 1990s. 

This year I'm tired here at the end of the year. Yes, the end of the school year necessities are always exhausting with report card writing, packing up or tidying up classrooms, post-planning meetings, end of the year extras, and more. But this year feels more exhausting. Again, the past few years have definitely taken their toll as we've crawled to the end of the Covid years. Makes me wonder if we all are still living a little bit in that aftermath still, slightly traumatized. 

But this year too for me has been full of extra challenges. Over the last 11 months I've had two significant knee surgeries, one on each of my knees. Rehabilitating them and experiencing my first FMLA leave a new experience, one that was physically and mentally taxing (prepping sub plans for 6 weeks is never easy). On top of that, we have had 4 deaths in the family over the last 5 months, one of them within the last month, overlapping the end of the school year demands. I had a partner-colleague leave midyear which impacted the nature of my job (and my location within the school building, which means packing up my space), and we've been training his replacement--all of which will be good, but of course it takes time. And then there's the part of me which is the mom, wife, daughter, in-law, sister, friend ... all of which has its own separate demands too.

Maybe it should be of no surprise that I'm tired!!! It's been a year!

I think that this what happens to all of us. Every year has its typical rhythms and cadences, but every year is always so different by its own specific details, impacts, events, surprises, and anniversaries. Every year, your students/your classes are different, each with their own needs and challenges, making no class ever the same. Thinking about that, it strikes me that I've probably been 31 different teachers in my 31 years of teaching--perhaps even more considering summer positions and camps along the way. 

Teachers get some grief about being off for 3 months of the summer. In my personal experience, the days of "3 month-summers" have dwindled to just barely two. The demands on teachers and their plates over the years have also grown significantly. In some ways, it seems teachers are expected to be superhuman with a slew of added responsibilities. This poster kind of sums it up: 

So if you know a teacher, go gentle on them at this time of year. They may be hanging on by a thread.

And if you are a teacher, go gentle on yourself. Your summer has come (or is coming soon). Take time for you. Rest and catch up with yourself, so you can be right and ready and rejuvenated this fall. You've earned it! 

Images from https://www.svgheart.com/product/schools-out-for-summer-end-of-school-sayings-svg-file/, https://educationtothecore.com/2022/05/22-relatable-end-of-the-year-teacher-memes/,  https://i.pinimg.com/736x/82/43/2c/82432c3a8e3b501dc5a87b0fd8e2c346.jpg and https://www.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/Feature-Image.jpg

It's That Time of Year Again: Back to School

'Tis that time of year again! B2S. BTS. Back to School.

As the "first day of school" photos of friends across the country also started peppering across my Facebook feed, I ran across the following from motivational speaker Thomas C. Murray. I follow him along with many other educational leaders and organizations. In doing so, I have curated my own bit of inspirational, educational feed filled with this along with all things environment, edtech, technology, and innovation.

Along the way, I ran into this, posted by Thomas by Kelsey LaMar, which I think is the perfect send off to teachers this fall. Whether you are just beginning in schools, or returning back for your first, fifteenth, 31st year like me, or more, you are a great teacher. If you've been teyaching the last 3 years, you've been through a lot, but you've made it! You tackled a lot of challenges during the pandemic and growth as a teacher! Most importantly, you will do great things this year too!

Thank you Kelly LaMar (from her Aug 14th Facebook post), for speaking to me and to all of us! Your words mattered... a lot. May we all pass your words, and words of encouragement of our own, forward. Have a good year, my teacher friends!

"It wasn’t the text I was expecting as I pulled into the parking lot on my first day back at work. And yet, there it was. 

 

It was short and simple. To the point. Sent to me by a principal that I haven’t worked for in over three years. 

 

“I hope you have a wonderful year. You are an amazing teacher. Your school and your students are so lucky to have you.” 

 

It was exactly what I needed to hear at the exact moment I needed to hear it. 

 

Cue the tears. 

 

Over the next few days, friends that I’ve worked with over the years received texts also. We’re spread across the country now. Many of us haven’t worked together in years. But yet, we were remembered. We were encouraged. We were seen. 

 

Here we were. Veteran teachers. Reduced to tears. 

 

We joked that our old administrator was out to single-handedly end the teacher shortage and burnout. 

 

It was a joke, but it got me thinking that maybe there was a little truth to it. 

 

Now hear me out. I’m not saying an encouraging text will end our problems.

 

It won’t end low, unsustainable pay rates. It won’t end the hours and hours of unpaid work expected of us. It won’t end the overfilling classrooms. It won’t end the mental load we all carry. It won’t end the lack of resources. It won’t end the behavioral problems that worsen every year. It won’t end the classes we are required to cover during our plan time. It won’t end the lack of substitute teachers.
It won’t. 

 

But maybe, just maybe, our words really are our most powerful weapon. 

 

Maybe, weary after years of teaching on the proverbial front lines, all we needed to know was that we were doing a good job. Our work was valued. 

 

When you enter my classroom, you’ll see notes pinned above my desk. Letters I’ve received over the years from administrators, coworkers, and parents. Little messages that remind me on the hardest days that my work is important. That my talents are recognized. That I am loved. 

 

This text? It was a reminder that I have the power to make someone’s day. To remind them of why they love this job so much. To look at them and see the immense value that they bring to their students and schools. To speak life into their weary hearts. 

 

So friends, today I encourage you to do the same. 

 

When you see the beauty in a student interaction. When you see the enthusiasm brought to a lesson. When you see the grace given where it wasn’t deserved. When you see the classroom that exudes peace and joy. 

 

Speak up. Tell them. It may be just what they needed to hear at the moment they needed to hear it.
And friend? In case you haven’t heard it in awhile, you’re an amazing teacher. Your students and your schools are lucky to have you." ~ Kelly LaMar

 

Kelly LaMar text from her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/talesfromtitle1/posts/pfbid02YRVptXdhAgHkY1QQJ8Pyyh58D8FXuYHUNyaAdQX5Ro4j7uFqqGiS9RfgKL1zEWysl , image created at www.canva.com using my Bitmoji.

Wintering This Summer

Every summer, our school has an all faculty read that unites us together during one of our first pre-planning, back to school meeting days. This practice is not uncommon throughout schools nationwide.

Some years we have one book that we all read and have central focuses around. We did that in years past with the books Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner, Making it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, and others.

Some years, we have a collection of 3 or 4 books to choose from so that we can find something that is more specific to our own needs and interests. This is often the preferred summer read simply because of the power of choice. (A good reminder to us teachers the power of that in our own classrooms too.) When we are back to school, we divide ourselves by book and discuss certain tenants of the book. A back to school book club.

This year, was a year of choice, and our 4 our book titles were:

• 
  Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools by Ron Ritchhart (2015)
• How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith (2021)
• Teaching When the World Is On Fire: Authentic Classroom Advice, from Climate Justice to Black Lives Matter by Lisa Delpit (2021)
• Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (2020)

 

I chose Wintering to read this summer. One of the reasons I chose this book is because I had already read both Lisa Delpit's book and Clint Smith's book. (Both of which I highly recommend!)

Two, after the now-three years of Covid, pandemic, quarantine, and "re-entry," it certainly felt like we all had been through a collective "wintering" worldwide. And we are emerging at different rates. The end of the past two school years has felt for me like an exhausted crawl to the finish line. Rest is necessary.

Thirdly, summer for teachers is always a bit of a wintering season. Recovery, recouping, rejuvenating, and definitely resting. It's a far more exhausting profession than many people think. One certainly made more difficult with Covid.

But lastly and most personally, I knew that mid-July I was going to have a total knee replacement--with a second one still ahead on the horizon based on x-rays and deterioration alone, I knew this would mean I would certainly have a summer like no other. No pool (my most favorite place) from surgery day until the incision heal (4-6 full weeks). I'd be living with limited mobility while I regained my strength. I knew it was inevitable that I'd be wrestling with pain and that lack of feeling in control--both of which I don't do well with! I would need to slowing down and let my body lead the way. This summer was going to need to be a needed season of rest and healing. Perhaps the book Wintering would help me get into the proper mindset to work my way to healing: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

The book is part biographical as Katherine May explains some different times in her life that she has had "seasons of wintering." Some truly due to her current geographical location where winter is winter. Some were due to life occurrences where rest and repair was necessary in one way or another. My favorite part of the book was the first chapter where she sets the stage and explains the purpose. Everyone "winters" at some point--or many points. Life takes us through difficult seasons, and it is a normal and natural part of life. Try as we might, we can't escape it; but, just like the world, we flourish after this remote season, yet it is also a season leading to rebirth. 

This quote in chapter one particularly spoke to me, particularly when it comes to healing. Healing from Covid and the loss that quarantining and the pandemic brought. Healing of my knee, now titanium and strengthening daily to move me beyond the restrictive arthritis that was hitting (in my personal opinion) wayyy too early and has limited me more and more over the past 5 years. 

"Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximising scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible. Once we stop wishing it were summer, winter can be a glorious season in which the world takes on a sparse beauty and even the pavements sparkle. It’s a time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order. Doing those deeply unfashionable things—slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting—is a radical act now, but it is essential. This is a crossroads we all know, a moment when you need to shed a skin. If you do, you’ll expose all those painful nerve endings and feel so raw that you’ll need to take care of yourself for a while. If you don’t, then that skin will harden around you. It’s one of the most important choices you’ll ever make." (Wintering, page 14)

I will say, that even though I am indeed wintering this summer, if I'm authorized to return to school in time for these back to school book club meetings, I think my plan is to actually jump groups by rereading "Teaching When the World Is On Fire" and going to that book talk. That book has spoken to me in so many ways over the past years and sometimes with current events still seems very relevant to both myself and our students, But, I definitely am taking the lessons of wintering and trying to really connect with what I need--more water, a nap, ice, sitting outside,  a bit of walking about, a physical therapy session, or time to just sit and watch a good show or read an great book. And with hope, I'll be stronger, wiser, and more centered and sustainable on the flip side....ready to winter again when it comes time to tackle that other knee of mine. It is completely cliché but equally true: if you don't have your health, you have nothing.

Photos created at www.canva.com. Book title pictures from images from www.amazon.com per title.

Online Museum Resources for Educators

Every teacher I know loves to land on good resources. 

And every teacher I know, their wheels are always spinning, thinking creatively about their craft. Summers included!

All of this is probably why this Edutopia article jumped out at me. In the Edutopia June 16, 2022 article entitled "6 Museums With Exceptional Teacher Resources," Tanya Brown Merriman shares some digital archives, online lesson plans, virtual field trips, and professional development opportunities.  Not only do they list some great brain activating ideas to implement into the classroom, but these museums definitely are a visual feast and appeal to the lifelong learner! 

Museum resources to check out in Tanya Brown Merriman's article, where you can get an in-depth glance at all these museums have to offer. She includes a resource spotlight and classroom activities as well as a link to each of the following museums :

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
• Indianapolis Chidlren's Museum (Indianapolis, IN)
• The Museum of Memory & Human Rights (Santiago, Chile)
• The American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY)
• The Columbus Museum of Art (Columbus, OH)
• The Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC

And people think teachers just lounge around all summer, eating bon bons! Not quite!!

Image created on www.canva.com

Summer Break 2022 Is On!

Today marks my last day of school meetings and events...ergo, my first official day of summer. This date has been out there, shining like a lighthouse lamp, a beacon of freedom and the succulence of summer as the days grow closer. 

I love teaching, and I love my job, but the last few years have been hard. Pandemic, remote, hybrid, masks, vaccines and boosters yet climbing numbers. It's been a hard wear and tear on my body (knee replacement surgery a month from now) and on my collective soul and mind. 

If you know any teachers, you know they are tired. The demands these last few years have been harder than ever, and the exhaustion is real. It has been by far more than "just regular school," and it certainly doesn't help when there are not enough bus drivers for public schools and substitutes for every school. A lot of teachers are doing double duty on top of dealing with their own and their student's emotional and mental health, parental stress, and the demands of teaching a wider than ever range of abilities in the classroom. 

For me personally with my deteriorating knees, I've seen how physically demanding elementary school is (and the running around the building I do as a Technology Specialist)... and how you don't realize how important health is until you don't have it!

For my fellow teachers out there--I see you and I know how hard we all have been working. I tip my hat to all that you have encountered and accomplished this year. I know the sweet victory of the making it to summer. Please take time to enjoy, to recuperate, to rest, to remind yourself what fun there is as you step away from lesson planning and paper grading these next several sensational weeks of summer. We have certainly earned it!

Images from Images from https://katelynslearningstudio.com/2017/06/treat-yo-self-teacher-summer-bucket-list.html and https://medium.com/@spencerideas/making-rest-a-priority-in-the-summer-52e5dc99746c (the latter which was written in 2018--showing you how tiring teaching is in "normal" years. It's been 10x harder since March 2020!)

The Annual #NatureFix & #BlueMind Summer Analysis

For 4 years now, I've been keeping track of my hours outside during the summer. The idea came from the concept of 1000 hours outside being optimal over a year. Seasonally, that accounts for 250 for a summer (1/4 of the year), which fits nicely into a teacher's lifestyle of June, July, and August. 

In addition to notating my hours outdoors for 4 years, I've been accounting and measuring my days of planned, intentional days near/in water for 3 years (aka: #BlueMind). Both of which have now officially become an annual traditions. 

This summer, I've been keeping track daily in my digital calendar (Artful Agenda) in a daily section I titled "Self Care." and I totaled it in a list page in my calendar for the entire summer. Doing it digitally is a new thing for me as I've always been very paper-centric in the past with my planners. 

Here are my stats for Summer 2021:

My Goals...250 hours outdoors and 65 days in/near the water. Looking at my numbers--pretty happy with the outcome!

This summer, I hit my "grand prize win" with 64 #BlueMind days and water-oriented activities, and I hit my 2nd highest summer for hours outside with 297 hours. (If I would have counted Labor Day weekend, which apparently I have done some years in the past, I would have topped 300.)

Here are my stats for the past:

2019 was my big win of hours outside during my summer months with 326 hours--but it did include the first two days of September due to Labor Day weekend.  Close second with my 61 #BlueMind days of being in the water. 

2018 (when I was only measuring hours outside), I clocked in with 269, putting it at my 3rd place stance.

2020 I wasn't far behind with 258 and 56 days of water-centric focus. Kind of surprising given it was smack dab in the middle of a pandemic--I would have expected more...but sometimes air conditioning is for the win!

But, in view of the goal of 1000 hours of outdoors time over the course of the year, I'm pretty darn proud of myself for topping 250 for the season of summer--1/4 of the year. 

The takeaway: I feel more centered when outdoors and/or in the water. A lot of times, that's my backyard pool when it comes to water. Of course, there is the overlap between the two, but no matter what, it helps to keep me more centered.

I'm always more pulled to those indoor activities of work once school starts. But every year I continue to do this, I'm shown the value and downright necessity of equilibrium that comes from being either outdoors or experiencing water. It's more than just what feels good. Yes, certainly it is that. But it is always science. And it is what helps to keep me running on all cylinders. 

These are the things that are wholeheartedly important to keep in mind...because they are the things that keep me going!!

Image screenshots from my calendar. Promo code, should you choose to dive into Artful Agenda (which I love), is RV272257.

Welcome Back to School

School starts for me (by way of teacher meetingsI) today. Official school for our students starts next week, but first day photos on Facebook show me that schools have started back in action almost up to a month ago in some areas.

This year, school starts with some trepidation. Remote learning, hybrid school, and the pandemic the last 18 months have sent all of us spinning a bit. Variants are on the rise after we've all tasted the sweet elixir of freedom in June--it's leaving my colleagues and I wondering what the future holds. Mask? Zoom? Quarantines? Covid cases? Or are we all back to normal? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, let's all take a deep breath, muster our strength and stamina, pray for good wifi if we need it, and hope for the best for a good school year ahead, connecting with our students. In the last 18 months, students and teachers have learned to be flexible, to pivot when needed, and to be creative problem solvers. We can do this. May the rejuvenation of the summer stay with you, and may you always be a good trouble shooter with a good sense of humor. Stay healthy, stay strong, and have a great school year ahead! Cheers!

Image created at canvas.com using my Bitmoji.com.

Toe Dipping into EdTech Tools For the Fall

I think I've entered that "toe dip" season of the year. I'm not talking pool or beach or other water sports, which are all at full emersion! The "toe dip" of which I speak is that point in the summer where my mind is slowly going to thoughts for the new year. Slow. Bite sized. Bits. Then instantly jumping right back into the full emersion part of the pool! A slight visit, but then a swift return to make sure that I'm "wearing my summer well." It's an interesting evolution that happens for teachers. It's all part of the swirling healing process of closing out one school year and the recouping and readying for the next year.

I've had some mid-summer one-day professional days at school.We do these "Summer Institutes" every summer so our teachers can learn from our teachers on a myriad of topics. These become the perfect toe-dipper kind of days. Good time to rejuvenate and refocus, and learn new items, which in turn start those spinning wheels to start looking into other things. My next several posts will be on some of those workshops, and on some of my other toe dips along the way.

Today's toe-dips include some really cool online edtech resources I've run across that would benefit any teacher. They include timesavers as well as other inspirational finds. May you enjoy toe-dipping into them at your leisure:

• Shake Up Learning with Kasey Bell is both a super podcast and a great website with loads of learning resources for teachers. I get the weekly email updates from and found her post on Free Templates for Teachers: Where to Find Them & How to Create Them fabulous. She references these sites that are definitely bound for your bookmark bar. You can learn more about them from her post or go to them directly here:
• Sarah Keifer's & Beth Kingsley's TemplatesForTeachers.com
• Paulina Martinez's SlidesMania
• Ed Curtz's Control Alt Achieve & Google-related resources & updates
• Tony Vincent's resources at Learning In Hand including ShapeGrams with Google Drawings

• Seesaw Connect, which is an online virtual global conference for Seesaw Teachers next week: July 26-30. Once you register (free!), you can can take a multitude of online, on-demand short courses to get your gears turning on how to incorporate Seesaw in many different ways. Access remains open until August 13th.

• Education World has a slew of templates, diagrams, forms and charts all classroom-centric that you can print. Great resource!

• Edutopia has a super article from April on "Powerful, Lesser-Known Tech Tools For Teachers." In it, they detail the following, which I want to look more into:
• Mote
• Dotstorming
• VideoAnt
• Blooket
• Kialu Edu
• Classkick
• Adobe Capture

Best part of toe-dipping....you can take one, try it out, then go right back into summer mode. You can investigate while you've got some of that free time on your hands and check out what's new out there. May this little list inspire a tidbit of toe dipping, then let you re-immerse yourself into whatever part of summer you wish. My favorite is always my pool!

Art created on Canva.com (my next-time toe-dip tool to share!)

#Blueminding in Duck, NC

As I'm writing this, we are on vacation in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Duck, specifically. 

It ties in so brilliantly with having finished re-reading Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do byWallace J. Nichols. Our backyard view is the Curritick Sound and water as far as the eye can see. In fact, on our dock this very instant, I have a hunting osprey who is lying in wait atop a post, ready to swoop down on any fish nearby to bring home to his or her little one in the nest two doors down. All of this puts 3 ospreys in easy view, adding both a show and symphony from their squawks of these magnificent birds. 

Other seabirds are fishing too, leaving a plethora of things to capture my interest the water, distracting me from my writing task at hand. However, ironically, the distraction IS the task. The writing IS the distraction. The water IS the point. Each dive-bombing bird on their fishing expedition brings a smile to my face. Being brought up a midwestern girl, this vista wasn't my typical landscape growing up. The cornfields are home, but water is my sanctuary.

Speaking of which...it's calling. The water. The writing can patiently wait.

* * *

During our week in Duck, we distracted and #blueminded a lot:

Walk downstairs to paddleboarding 

Watching neighbors & their fishing mornings

Beach lazing 

Balcony gazing

Wave chasing

Deck sunning

Waverunning

Biking and board walking

Boating and dolphin watching

Dining on the gifts of the sea

I'm ready to go back.

Photos from my camera and graphics created at on canvas.com

Green & Blue: What the Doctor Ordered

On our road trip heading to our vacation destination, I was listening to a multitude of podcasts, and 2 of them talked about our brain's capacity to take in new information. Surprisingly, we can only learn 3-4 hours of new content a day. That goes for teachers and students alike. It really spoke about the exhaustion factor that comes with that--especially in remote (and hybrid) learning. When I think of the intensity of the learning curve for everyone on this planet the last 16 months, it shows me how "wired and tired"and over "tech-ified and fried" we all have been, and how much recovery time we all need. All of which brings me back to Florence Williams' Nature Fix & Wallace J. Nichols Blue Mind and of course the concept of "nature deficit disorder" coined by Richard Louv. We all need prescriptions to get outside, to then nearest waterway or green space. We need moments of eco-mindfulness to re-center, restore, and recover. Aaron Reuben reiterates the same thing in his May 2019 article for Outside Magazine "Science's Newest Miracle Drug is Free." 

If you need help finding someplace, ParkRX America's website is where you need to go. You can type in your address and instantly find some good green and blue space nearby. Plus, in their Media section, you can find a slew of good books to read to reiterate the point (both of which I mentioned above are listed!). And here's a good video from ParkRX to get you in the mood to head outdoors too. Which I will definitely make sure is a large part of my vacation!!!

Video from https://youtu.be/EYVC362i2dk, and images from https://parkrxamerica.org/resources.php and prescription image from https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/Whats-Happening/Pages/parks-rx-day.aspx