Out for the Summer!

 Well, it's finally here...the first day of summer vacation! The past couple of weeks have passed in a frantic blur... special end-of-the-year activities, piles of end-of-the-year reports and files to update. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day to get everything done, yet it also seemed like June 3rd would never get here. It was especially hard when I knew other schools were out for the summer and we were still plugging away.

A few days ago, I started "the list"... two lists, actually, of the projects I want to work on and things I want to get done over the summer. I'm not the kind of person who is ever content to just be lazy and "play" all summer. I like to reorganize my classroom stuff, always trying to get a better system in place for all the math manipulatives, literacy centers and science unit materials. I'm never satisfied with the way I keep records and assessments of my students' work, and each summer I try to "tweak" the forms I have used to make them more convenient, and report card time less hectic and stressful. It's fun for me to search for and collect new ideas for school activities.

My home list consists of cleaning things I don't seem to get to during the school year, organizing closets & cupboards, fixing or replacing things that are broken, trying new recipes, yard work, and shopping for specific items for the house that may take a bit of hunting to find. I also hope to get a lot of scrapbooking and reading done this summer.

This morning, my brain is in a fog, and I don't quite know what to do with myself. It may take me a while to shift down to a different daily pace. Instead of starting each day like I've been shot out of a cannon, I can take the time to putter around the house and consider the possibilities. 

Hmmm.....think I'll have another cup of coffee....