With three full months to yourself, what will you do?
What will you do to renew yourself and your purpose as a teacher?
What will you do to broaden and deepen your content knowledge and repertoire?
Conscious of my role as a model to you all, I will lead off with some of my summer plans, purposefully selected to fulfill the goals I set for you above:
1. I will visit my family. As you all may know by now, I am very close with my extended family, and they all live in Northern NY, which is 7 hours from me in RI. While I visit here and there during the year, it's never for too long. Summer gives me weeks and weeks to spend with my family in the woods, at our camp in the Adirondack mountains. The photo of me on my blog profile--the one where I'm letting Jude, my nephew, play my mandolin--is from summer at camp. As a kid, I spent every day of every summer at that place. And, even though I'm almost 40, every summer It still draws me back. I can't wait to go trout fishing with my pop, who will be 90 this year, or to sit on the raft with my mom, dipping our feet in the lake.
2. I will read a ton, especially because I am running an independent study this summer with an English teacher from Cumberland HS. He and I will be reading and watching a variety of adolescent texts. In addition, we will be reading three critical books on adolescent literature. Some of the titles we'll be reading together are: Sold, Monster, You Don't Know Me, Whale Rider, Once Were Warriors, Paprika (film), Waltz With Bashir (film), Prom Night in Mississippi (film), Fallen Angels, Feed, and Donald Duk. The focus of the course is adolescent lit from global perspectives. Cool stuff.
3. I will play lots of music. This year, I have been a Musical Mentor to Alex Rosario, an 11-year old girl in Providence who plays the viola. Through Community Music Works, an organization dedicated to bringing stringed instruments to low-income kids, I have successfully revived my music mojo, as I've been learning lots of new fiddle tunes courtesy of Rachel and Carole, our awesome Fiddle Lab teachers. Playing with Alex has motivated me to practice, to be "on my game" with my Suzuki violin music as well as with my fiddle tunes. I look forward to playing mando around the bonfires this summer and to practicing Minuet with Marlo, my 7-year old niece who plays the violin.
4. I will teach Writing 100! Just like I love ninth graders, I love first-year students in college. They are fresh and curious and new to the whole enterprise. They are eager and willing and, for the most part, want to do well by me, their teacher. Also, I am teaching for the first time without a textbook. I am going to turn the class--and the class writing--into the textbook. This is an experiment for me, and I am ready to get started!
4. I will continue to write a poem a day. Since January 1, 2010, I have been writing one poem each day.This helps me to focus my mind, to take stock of my day (I usually write at the end of the day), and to make a mark on the world each day (or to mark my world). I am proud of having begun this, and I look forward to continuing it over the summer.
5. I will plant lots of cool stuff in my yard. One of the other great joys in life for me (besides family, reading, music, teaching, and writing) is gardening and digging in the dirt. Since moving in to our new house, I've planted over 30 different plants. I love designing the landscape. I love bringing a new living thing into the space of our yard. And, I love being surrounded by the living things I plant in the ground. I love watching them thrive (especially in the middle of a city!).
So, now that I've shared some of my summer goals with you, will you share yours? Once you think it through, I would love to hear from each of you about what you plan to do for yourself this summer.
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OK...so this past Saturday I got started on one of my goals for this summer...I visited the Sam Adams brewery (aka Boston Beer Company) in Jamaica Plain, MA. Matt and I both love a good microbrew and plan on visiting many of the local (New England) breweries this summer, since they are often free and we can't afford to do much else! We plan on hitting up Shipyard, Long Trail, Harpoon, Otter Creek, Wachusett and of course, Cottrell--as that it is literally within walking distance to our apartment, although, I don't think they actually do tours!
ReplyDeleteOn a more academic level, I also plan on reading and re-reading a few books that I've missed. I just picked up To Kill A Mockingbird, which I haven't read in quite a few years. I also plan on re-reading The Great Gatsby, Malcolm X, The Bluest Eye, On the Road and if I’m feeling a little scandalous, maybe The Scarlet Letter (but I doubt it…)! On my “haven’t read but I’m gonna” list I’ve got Sula, Animal Farm (I know, I can’t believe I haven’t read this!) and The Grapes of Wrath. We’ll see…I’ll probably just on the beach re-reading the Twilight Saga!
My third goal this summer is to get outside as much as possible. Matt and I plan on doing some hiking (adventure walking) down at Sleeping Giant, a state park in Hamden, CT. We’re heading up to New Hampshire in August for a week with my parents and dogs to go camping. And I live 5 minutes from the beach, so I’ll be there!
Mainly, I plan on relaxing as much as I can, which is pretty much any time that I am not watching the girls. I have to work my butt off this summer since I need to save some money (until I plant that money tree) for next semester, but during my free moments I will be relaxing—and by relaxing I mean being lazy on the beach, reading a good book, hanging out by the campfire and leisurely hiking some small hills—all with a good microbrew in hand!
I have many goals for this summer. Summer is always such a busy time for me (in a completely different way than the school year is) and it always goes so fast.
ReplyDeleteMy first goal (which I hope to get a good head start on in the next month before the big kids get out of school) is to organize some things around the house to get ready for what will surely be the most hectic fall ever. I will have to be organized and set up for success for this to work. One project I have is to create a designated work space for myself in our extra room upstairs (which has been a construction zone for quite a while now) so I will have a place to retreat to when the house is chaotic. Working at the dining room table just isn’t going to cut it in the fall. I also want to get caught up on my laundry and get rid of all of the children’s outgrown, stained, and unwanted cloths. Yeah—not as fun as microbrewery tours—but such are the priorities of motherhood. Plus—I might sneak in a tour or two (sounds fun, Jill)—and I will certainly drink a few microbrews as I sort laundry!!
My next goal is to spend time with my family (immediate and extended). Like Dr. Cook, summer is my time to spend longer bits of time with my peeps in Pittsburgh. I am trying to fly out to Chicago to see my little brother graduate from Navy boot camp in the beginning of July. I am also planning on receiving a visit from my Mom, a sister, and my nieces at the end of July; and, traveling to Pgh with my entourage for two weeks in August. Vacation in Pgh is anything but relaxing (I always need a vacation when I come back from vacation); but, it is a blast and a half. I come from a long line of super fun people!!
Another goal is to read, read, read! I am planning on rereading the big three that are always taught at Vets—Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Romeo and Juliet. I have also almost finished The Great Gatsby for the first time (another popular one at Vets for honors classes). I have already bought and started Harry Wong’s, The First Days of School which I plan to finish along with some of the others from our “summer reading list.” I am happy to report that many of them are available through RIC’s library. I also hope to find my journal in which I record the books I have read—but will at least start a new one and keep it somewhere safe so I don’t lose it.
I also want to continue to have weekly “date-night” with Adam. We try to set aside at least one night a week to hang out and relax together. Sometimes we can get a sitter and go out—but usually we just put the kids to bed a little early, cook together (we like to make things from our garden in the summer and fall), have some good beer, talk, and listen to music. We are trying to plan a weekend trip for our anniversary (we will be married 13 years in August); but, we will have to see about that.
So yes—I have high hopes for my summer! I can’t wait to see everyone on Tuesday!!!
Before the semester ended, I started to read a bunch of books that I've wanted to read but haven't. For the rest of the summer, I'm going to keep reading and possibly do some writing. One of my friends from high school is going to UPENN to be a nurse practitioner some time next month, so I'm going to see her and a few of my other friends before she leaves. At the end of June, I'm going to see Ringo Starr with Adam. And the week after that is my birthday! I would love to go on a trip somewhere I haven't been yet, but I'll have to see how that goes. My grandparents always welcome me, if I can, to visit them in Florida, which I would most definitely want to do. For now, I'll probably have to stick with the beach and going for walks.
ReplyDeletePuzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles!! I plan to puzzle with the people in my life, (and yes I made puzzle a verb) because it is a way to spend time and talk while exercising the brain. Truth be told, I am just hopelessly addicted to puzzles right now. I plan to spend a great deal of time reading silly and meaningful books, (when I'm not puzzling of course)and hangin at the beach. There is already a 1500 piece puzzle in the works down there because my mother is an avid puzzler as well. I want to get Howard outside and exercising as much as possible because he is getting fixed soon and they tend to gain weight afterward. I do not desire to have a fat chihuahua, and Howard does not desire to have a fat human, so we will work on losing weight together. I will be spending a great deal of time with all of my cousins and good friends. I plan on spending a couple of days with some extremely smart and down to earth women as well. Most of all, I plan on learning some relaxation techniques that will get me through student teaching. I sometimes get a little stressed out, I know it's hard to believe with my calm exterior, haha, anyhow, I will do some reading on that subject. Well I have to go to the beach now, Howard wants to frolic.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you all very soon!!
Oh and by the way, I plan at trying my hand at Penny-Can!!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm just going to read Nicole's post over and over again all summer because it makes me laugh THAT much.
ReplyDeleteMy other goals:
1. Vacation!: I'm going to be spending 2 weeks in Maine and 3 weeks in New Hampshire - both of which I will do with no internet, no cable, and very little phone reception, so I'm pretty excited to go back in time this summer.
2. Niagara Falls road trip: Part of me wants to try to make going to Niagara Falls a day-trip just because it sounds wild, but it might end up being a weekend trip.
3. Read!: Like everyone else, I'm going to try to read as many "classics" as I possibly can this summer.
4. I'm setting a goal of 30 s'mores to be eaten this summer: as of now, I'm at 3.
5. Do something memorable! I'm not sure what it is yet but I have some grand schemes in mind that would all be a great adventure.
Nicole, what is Penny-Can?
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to wish Kathryn good luck on the Smores goal! I do believe you will attain it. Second, Jill, you will have to come to the beach to find out what Penny-Can is (I'm not sure if it is hyphenated) because we will be playing it and the competition is fierce. I miss you ladies and you BETTER come visit me at the beach!!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.worldslargestpuzzle.com/
ReplyDelete24,000 pieces??? Do you ever want to see me again?
ReplyDeleteYeah, and it costs almost $300.00!! You should ask for it as a graduation gift!
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear: We want to see you again, and we don't want you to go broke buying extravagant puzzles. But, Tracy DOES have a point with the present idea! The world's biggest puzzle could be a living metaphor for life...putting it together over the next 40 years...
ReplyDelete