Teachers Don't Work in the Summer...Hah!

All year long I applaud fog delays and snow days.  I anxiously await Christmas Break and Spring Break.  The counting down to summer starts in April.  There is something about the thought "I don't have to go to work today." that sets my heart yearning.  Yet, I probably have been at school 20 of the 30 summer break days so far!  Not only that, there have been other teachers in the building with me (one of the reasons I have to go in so much because I never get anything done because I am too busy gabbing having great pedagogical discussions.)

Princess has been tutoring in my classroom so I often head over there with her trying to get ready for the summer special needs preschool I teach (starts in a week...yikes...quit talking and get working.)  Princess and I and another teacher wrote a grant that was selected by our state department so we have been meeting with that team.  I am on the RTI committee....there is another meeting.  Last week we had four days of training.

Seriously though I might complain, I love the school in the summer.  I love the time and the freedom to dream, plan and create.  I love the darkened hall ways and the smell of new paint and cleaning fluids.  I love having time to talk with the custodians.  I always feel like during the year all I do is ask them to do something for me.  I love coming in in flip flops and shorts.  I even love the challenge of being encouraged to shake things up.

This past week we had four days of Quality Learning training.  If you have never had this training, you should check it out here.  I first went to this training four years ago when our superintendent took a group of us to West Virginia.  I have to tell you, it turned my philosophy of education upside down (I knew it needed shaking up...just didn't know how.)  Our Super for the last three summers has hosted the four day training in our school district and made it free to teachers and gave us a stipend.  I decided to go again for a refresher this year and I am glad I did. 

Quality Learning is about changing the system so students are fully and actively engaged.  The teacher is more of a coach.  David Langford gives you a lot of tools to use and lots of challenges to look at why you do things and what the real impact on your students is.  The first time I went, I came home and implemented a few things, but time and ease of the familiar had me falling back into the old "tried and true" system.  I am determined this year to take what I am doing now and expand it further.  You will probably hear me reference QL a few times this year.  Princess also went to the training.  She was a bit overwhelmed, but she has an awesome third grade team and each one of them was there.  They do quite a bit of QL systems and they have everything ready to go for her.  (and she thought she was done with teacher school!)

So even though it is the end of June, I still haven't let go of school.   There is an invisible thread pulling me back and I can't seem to cut it.

Queen Pea