School’s Out: Making the Most of Your Summer
REFLECT
To be able to move forward from the year, I have always found it cathartic to look back and remember what the year has held. However, for this month, this reflection should be the best of times (the critiques, the what you would have done differently, the “next year I plan to…”, those you can save for another month). Just as our breathing is cleansing, so must be our reflection. And to cleanse, we must use “clean soap”. In reflection, the cleanest of soap is gratitude. Take out your journal, the audio recording on your device, your computer, really anything you use to capture your reflections and begin to reflect. Below you will find one of my favorite cleansing reflection exercises.
Gratitude Reflection: Put a timer on for 7 minutes and write down every big and little thing you are thankful for from this year. After the 7 minutes, reread what you wrote and thank the universe for what you were given this year.
Here are some considerations: What are you most grateful for that this year has brought you? Perhaps it was a student(s) who made you smile, perhaps it was a colleague that had your back, perhaps it was a lesson(s) that rocked your students world, perhaps it was a breath that goy you out of bed, perhaps it was the pandemic as it allowed you time to go to the bathroom when you needed. Just write and even if time is not quite up, keep writing… it could be the sun, that snowy day, a parent letter…. just keep writing until your time is up!
If you are looking for more ways to improve your teaching practice and/ or want to join a community of educators working to transform their life and the lives they encounter daily, consider subscribing to To All the Students I've Taught Before. Your soul, your peers, your students... they will thank you for it!
