Refueling The Teacher Tank

 

I know like many of you that the school year can be just plain hard.  Maybe you had a really difficult class or maybe life just got crazy.  Teachers must tap into whatever gets them refueled because this thing we call teaching is just too dang important to not be, well- on fire for kids!  I tell you what.  I’ll let you in on what I do for the summer months to get myself in tip-top-shape for the next school year (mentally anyways as I haven’t been exactly regular at the gym) haha.

Some teachers refuel by getting away from anything that has to do with teaching.  Maybe you like to read your favorite mystery novel and lounge around in your pajamas sipping chai lattes. Perhaps you finally get to that honey-do or hubby-do list that was put off during the school year.  Maybe you take the kids to the beach or the dog and just get lost in order to get right with your soul.

For me, getting refueled means diving into more Professional development.  If you’re like me, I love to read books in the summer on everything education.  Lately I have been tackling everything on leadership, as I am enrolled in an administration program.  So everything from Michael Fullan’s The Principal to Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Leverage Leadership.  If I am not reading books then I am designing and researching units on project-based learning (PBL). As you can probably already tell, I am kind of a big fan of PBL. If Buck Institute for Education were to ask me why I believe in PBL so much, they need only to check out my post here which is my success story using PBL.

The biggest form of refueling for me has to be my professional learning network (PLN) on twitter.  I follow people and interact with them from all over the states.  It’s so exciting to know there are people out there that feel the same about educating kids that I do!  If you have never signed up for a twitter account, I highly suggest it.  No.  I demand that you sign up right now!  Kidding.  You don’t have to.  But seriously- you should!

One of the cool things about summer is the opportunity to connect with other educators at conferences around the state.  CA Teachers Summit is this month and its free!!! Check out the link and sign up for one near you!  Other workshops and conferences are offered through local colleges as well.  You might have to do some digging depending on where you live and how far you’re willing to travel.  UCSB has a few educator opportunities in the summer on their campus.

However you choose to  “refuel” during your summers, please make sure you do whatever helps you to come back in the fall fully charged and: On Fire For Kids!

All the best,

Scott

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