Well summer break is days away and with it, time to
"recharge our batteries":).
With the pressure of common core, the rising rate of poverty, the ever
expanding digital divide, the low numbers of minorities (Latinos,
African-American students, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, homeless
students, students from low socio-economic family backgrounds of all races,
etc.) attending 4 year universities/colleges, and increasingly shrinking school
budgets, teachers have been inundated with priority mandates throughout the
year and still doing a great job dealing with all of this. So how can teachers fully prepare mentally and physically for the new
school year? Here are some of my own
thoughts as well as some excellent ideas from EDUTOPIA:)
1. Leave your
classroom during your prep and socialize a bit with colleagues. Share your successes and close successes with
colleagues to get feedback from them as well as offer your own insight on their
concerns. It does truly do wonders for
the soul to know that maybe some of the issues that you struggled with so did
others. When teachers collaborate to
find solutions to common problems, they arrive at practical and
easy-to-implement solutions. This
reduces stress and offers ideas to successfully revise lesson delivery problems
for the new school year. Even more
beneficial to teachers is that they can start their break without any nagging
issues on unresolved lesson issues:)
2. Spend first couple of weeks relaxing--no 6:00 AM alarms:)
Reset your biological alarm clock for a
later start. Take a brisk daily walk, a
morning swim, a jog, a refreshing hike, etc.
Grab a coffee/tea at Starbucks and then hit the mall, go to the movies,
visit a friend, explore a museum, etc. These
activities re-energize with ease. Grab a
book you have not have the time to read during the school year and read it
now. Set your opening summer schedule to
fit your needs and no one else's.
3. Try a few possibly
new activities. How about a star
party? I have been to several of them
with my spouse who is an astronomer.
Whole families meet in open areas with minimal light with their
telescopes to watch the wonders of the night sky. If you don't have a telescope, it is not a
problem. Stargazers will happily share
theirs with you. There is a link to
finding star parties in the EDUTOPIA (page
4).
4. Take a few fun
weekend trips to places you have always wanted to visit, but never had the time
to do so due to school demands. There
are many travel website deals out there:
EXPEDIA, TRIVAGO, HOTELS.COM,
ORBITZ, AAA, TRAVELOCITY,
KAYAK to name but a few. I am planning a 3 day trip to San Francisco
to hit museums, theatre, movies, shopping and 5 star restaurants:). Since BART is available, I will not need to
drive.
5. Care to visit
another country, go camping, explore a major American city? Save that for July:). You will be in excellent shape at this point
to fully benefit from all the rewards that come from such dream outings! I plan on visiting Hawaii in July for a
week. My goal is to do nothing but relax
by the beach with a good book and take an occasional dip in the ocean:)
Have a great well-deserved summer break--you earned
it:)
Denise, Marnie and Cheryl
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