Don’t those summer weeks come and go in the blink of an eye? How do you plan to spend your last day of summer? Here are a few ideas for easing back into the school year.
Choose only one or two professional development goals for the new school year, so you don’t get overwhelmed! (Image by Arina P Habich/Shutterstock)
- Set Measurable Professional Development Goals: Back to school professional development is a great time to check in with your teaching practice and get inspired for a new year of your career. Research new instructional practices or instructional tools to enhance your teaching. Choosing one or two goals to focus on can help you from feeling overwhelmed with the surplus of information at your fingertips. For example, maybe this upcoming school year will be when you take the leap to flexible seating? Or perhaps you are integrating meaningful number talks in math, or you want to go paperless. Seek out one or two purposeful and measurable opportunities to grow your practice.
- Get Inspired with Last-Minute Read: Rotate your beach reads with professional texts at the end of summer. A picture perfect late-summer evening to me is lounging in a beach chair with a stack of books nearby! I try to walk away from every book with something positive I can apply in my practices when I go back to school, and I almost always feel totally invigorated and ready to meet my new class!
- Don’t Abandon Your Personal Passion Projects! During the school year, our lives are often so consumed with the responsibilities that come along with teaching. As a result, we tend to put our hobbies to the side… until summer rolls around! What have you tapped into again over the summer? Make a point of not leaving it behind this year by carving out designated time for it during your weeks. Whether that be yoga, gardening, traveling, or crafting: keep your attention and focus on these hobbies alongside teaching. Finding a hobby that brings you happiness is critical for your self-care. It makes you more well-rounded and as a result, a stronger educator.
- Ease Back into Your Regular Alarm Schedule: This hugely important “task” will make the transition back into the school year much easier! Longer days full of sunlight make it easy to stay up late and sleep in several hours past when that first bell rings. While it’s ok to stray every now and then, now’s the time to return to your year-round schedule. It’s more important than you think for your well-being, and will leave you feeling refreshed on your first day back!
- Relax: You can’t pour from an empty cup! Spend your remaining long and lazy days soaking up as much zen-time as you can. Your students will thank you for it when you return to school refreshed!
How are you spending your remaining summer days before you go back to school? I’d love to hear about it! Tweet it to @Kids_Discover or @jenn_overstreet to share what you’re reading, how you’re relaxing, and what your passion projects will be this year!
