My school year is officially done! My students are off to enjoy their summer, and I plan to do the same. However, like always, even though I’m not in the classroom every day, I’m still pretty busy all summer long.

I am doing a number of professional developments this year, including one this first week. It is nice though because I am getting paid extra for the training that I’m attending. I am hopeful that I can use those trainings to help me become a better teacher for this upcoming school year.

I am also traveling a little bit this summer. Most of it will be local and within my own state. Nevertheless, I am currently planning one trip out of state. I’m not going everywhere this year! I’m keeping the trips smaller while still staying busy.

The last main category of events in my summer are improvement projects. I want to stay busy and productive, and I have a lot that I want to do. I’ve actually already made a schedule for what I hope my days will look like, as well as a time sheet. I know that I can focus on just one project, and I don’t really want to do that. I want to be able to spend time on a number of things, but I also still want to be able to enjoy myself.

I know that not every teacher’s summer is this way. I am thankful that my district pays me all twelve months of the year. Many teachers (and other people) have to find a second job just to make ends meet.

I like to use my time off as time to better myself. I feel that all of these help me to do that. Obviously, because I have some professional development this summer, I’m working on new ideas to help my classroom and to help me become a better teacher. However, the other things that I’m doing will help me be better as well. A lot of my travels will provide me with new experiences that helps me learn more new things. And my personal projects are going to help me in other ways as well. Some of those projects are skill-based and will help me learn new skills. Other projects on my list will help me improve in other ways. For example, I plan on training quite a bit for my upcoming martial arts test. I probably won’t be learning any new things, but I’ll be reviewing and shaping up some weak points. Regardless, they will help me to become better.

Summer is a busy time. I’m thankful I don’t have to be in the classroom during the day, but I hope that you see that I am still doing a lot of things. I’m excited for what the summer will bring, and how it will help me to improve!