Summer was fun, relaxing, rejuvenating, busy, short, eventful, and satisfying.
And now, summer is officially over. Sorry – someone had to say it! But with summer over, a new school year begins and I for one feel like I need that structure again. My hope is that I will find that balance of health and work and above all, family.
This summer was full of professional development for me. My summer reading included two books both of which provided inspiration and comaraderie. Our Summer Book Group read The Help by Katharyn Stockett. It was great to read something for pleasure with a group from across the continent, and what a great book (and movie) it was! My school was invited to read Drive by Daniel Pink. This was a second read for me and it was just as inspiring. I can’t say it enough – I love Dan Pink and all he promotes for business and in essence, education.
Other PD highlights for me this summer were the RSCON3 webinar I presented on Music and Reading, the arts integration grad course I taught and the Teacher Art Retreat. Both introduced me to some amazing educators as well as reunited me with some fabulous colleagues. Through the grad course, the power of the creative process was re-instilled in me and has led to the development of the upcoming blog series. In 5 days, I witnessed teacher transform before my eyes as they unleashed the possibilities arts integration could have in their teaching and in their students’ learning.
The Teacher Art Retreat lived up to it’s potential and then some. For over a year, I have been working on this idea in my head and to see it come to fruition was so satisfying. The teachers who took part were so happy with their experience and left only wanting to come back again next summer. I am already working towards planning next summer’s retreat!
And now it’s time to think about the new school year. I am looking forward to reconnecting with colleagues and starting new projects and collaborations. I can’t wait to meet my new class and start the year off with, what I hope will be inspiring activities to get them on the road to becoming invigorated learners.
Here, at The Inspired Classroom, it is our hope to bring you more perspectives on important and innovative educational topics. We will start by bringing you a series in September on The Creative Process. If you ever wish to guest post here, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
I think it’s important for us to take a moment at this time of year to reflect on the things we have done both personally and professionally during the summer. So, join me! What did you do this summer?
