Here's the deal....

Be honest. Do you really ever turn off the "thinking about school" part of your brain? I don't. I think I will, but I don't. I'm always thinking and applying my personal experiences to my work. 

I can't help it. I love what I do! Teaching is not a job for me. It's my vocation. I am passionate making education fabulous for both teachers and students. But, we all need to take breaks or we'll get burned out.

So...

Here are 5 simple (non teaching) things you can do this summer that will make you a better teacher. 

1. Take a break. No. I mean a REAL break. No school talk. No professional reading. No planning for at least a month.

2. Enjoy a hobby. Pursue your hobby, whatever it is, with passion. Get really good at it.  

3. Write. Write a book or poetry. Keep a personal or spiritual journal, field journal or write letters. Whatever. Just write every day. Think about your struggles as a writer. Note where you like to write and...

Looking for some summer fun to send home with your students or to use with your own kids? Here's a fun activity for families.

Rate Your Parks

One summer when my kids were all still young, we got the neighbors together and made a plan. Twice a week, we committed to a park day. We mapped out all the parks in a 15 mile area and assigned each a day and time on the calendar.

Then, I created a park rating sheet. Each child got a copy. As we visited parks, each child went home and rated them on various criteria.

At the end of the summer, we had everyone rank all the parks. I gathered the results. The park that won overall got a last visit from us all to celebrate with a picnic! Yippee!

Get your FREE Rating Sheet here!

If you try it out with your own kids, post your results below.

Teach joyfully,

Lisa