Summers coming: What to do, What not to do

Hello summer! Hallelujah - right?? I'll be honest summer for me has serious mixed emotions. I'm really sad to see the kids go, but on the other hand, it's really nice to sleep in and act like I'm 100% retired for a month. When school lets out, we lose that daily time card stamp of scheduled productivity, and I think that's something that some of us quietly depend on. And that's 102% okay, but we need to be prepared for that change in order to really take advantage of it! If you're not prepared, it can be a big adjustment.

In my summers, I stamp my time card by lots of lawn mowing on my kinda big green (and pretty cool) tractor, running, making breakfast (I love a good breakfast), spending time with family, or going to the beach or various Florida day trips with my much better half. Right there. That's what you must do with your summer - it's your time - fill it with what makes you 'you'. Never forget to take full advantage of these days off: Do something out of the 'norm': Watch a sunrise, go for a hike, or... learn a new skill such as how to build a website.

Okay, sunrises and such aside, the first day of school comes fast. Immidiately, you're thrust back into a regimented schedule of lesson planning, parent contacting, and grading - among other things. That's a huge mental adjustment if you spent your entire summer 'off'. That shift will not go well.

I've always used the 80/20 approach. I'm off 80% of the time and loving the long, hot, lemonaide filled days of summer, but I've got my serious pants on for just 20% of the time. These are my off summer times. Let's say I wake early; I might plan AICE marine or AICE environmental for a bit over doing other things. Spending that short span of time planning in summer, when I'm ready to do so, goes a really, really long way come Septemer. I've developed this planning tool avaiable on my TpT store that makes planning any course as easy as a summer breeze, you might be interested in it. If I'm going to spend a few hours on a summer day at 'work', I want to get the most out of it that I can! That planning tool will do just that.

Thank you for what you do - you fill a critical role. I thank you for that, and for your support and trust in my resource. I also thank you for your support of my new corner of the Inetnet! I hope you like it!

- Chris