Relax and Renew...

You need to relax!  What a difficult phrase for a teacher in the summer.  I have come to realize that relax means different things to different people.  For me, relaxing is thinking through the first two weeks of school, slowly digging through the dollar spot at Target or scanning Twitter for new ideas.  Relaxing is a clean house, laundry done and then time in the kitchen.  It is also sitting with a good book or enjoying an episode of Bones for the 100th time.

For one of my best teacher friends, she teaches summer school then takes 2 weeks for herself visiting family - she loves to drive!  For others, relaxing is staying in bed until whenever, reading books, cutting task cards, creating new stations or simply sitting and sipping coffee with mom.  Relaxing is what you need it to be.

It can be family, friends, cooking, quiet, studying, working, laughing, reading - it is what you need in order to renew yourself.  Summer time is a time to renew.

Summer is when I get excited about going back to school and I am ready for another year because I have visited my mom and dad, sat at the pool, read blog posts, laminated posters or bound my math curriculum at Office Max.  During summer, I am renewed.

I pray that my spirit is renewed so I can make a difference in the lives of the students who enter my classroom in August.  I promise I will continue to relax and renew my spirit with 'me time' that is just right for me.  Whether that is taking clothes to Plato's closet, writing a post or watching my son fish, I will remember that 'relax' is different for everyone.  What works for me may not work for another.  If relax and renew is the summer goal, then I am succeeding.