What I Did On My Summer Vacation
The first week in July, I went to Mexico with my family. It was so much fun! We went swimming and snorkeling and shopping and riding on a catamaran. We went to a different restaurant every night to eat. It was really hot and humid there. I had a massage too!
The second week in July, I went to Denver. It was so exciting! I was with a bunch of teachers and other educators and we got to help write a national curriculum for grades K-2. We worked really hard during the day and then we got to eat at different restaurants every night, just like when I was in Mexico! While I was in Denver, I got to visit my sister and her family. She has a very nice deck in her backyard. I could see the mountains from her window upstairs in her house.
The third and fourth weeks in July, I worked at home on the national curriculum. I really relished the work that we did. I continued to meet with all the teachers on my computer. It’s so great to share ideas of what works best for students and to know that others will benefit from our discussions!
Also during July, I got a chance to visit my 87 year old uncle who is nearly blind. I wish I could visit him more during the school year. It was nice to visit him regularly and to help him with his shopping and his mail and his medicine. Plus, he always took me out to dinner every time I visited!
Another thing I did was to spend time with my husband. We took many walks around the neighborhood and in the park. Sometimes we walked to the ice cream store. We also went to a free concert on the lawn of our city hall.
I had great fun with my grandson, Austin too. We went swimming and we went to the park to play and we went to the zoo with some friends.
In the first week of August, I went with my principal to our learning network for two days. These were meetings to help us with our school goals. It was exciting to be thinking of all the things we will be focusing on in the coming year.
In the middle of August, I always go to Caseville to visit my mom. They have a festival there called “Cheeseburger in Caseville” and they have free concerts every night. The music is reggae, summer time music. There are many different kinds of cheeseburgers to eat. They have sand castle contests, cardboard boat races, a mud pit, llamas, people wearing silly hats, a “fools parade,” and lots of other fun stuff!
I would say that my summer vacation is pretty typical for a teacher. Summers off means we’re off schedule, but teaching is never far from our minds. We rejuvenate during the summer by relaxing and spending time with family. We also meet with teacher friends and talk excitedly about the next school year. We read articles and books that will help us be better teachers and we make plans. We teachers start back to school on August 24th to prepare for our new students and our new school year in our new school building. We can hardly wait!