Image found here.
The summer break has brought rain in abundance. The smell in the air is wonderful and very much welcomed. It brings on the encouragement of something new. It suggests change. It makes you want to get outside and enjoy life. It is the spring weather I usually miss out on inside the walls of a classroom... so I truly am enjoying the cool, fresh, clean air as I breathe in and embark on summer adventures:
1. Adventure #1- Extreme Sports: My husband has been encouraging me to participate in some of his favorite hobbies, which have allowed me to experience feeling like a kid again. Driving a Toyota through a MUD BOG or riding in the back of a monster truck are thrilling moments everyone should experience at least once in their life. The mud, dust, and minor bruises are completely worth it. But there is nothing more exhilarating than riding a Drift Trike (oversized customized tricycle with PVC on the back tires) down a long hill at 30 MPH. Definitely brought me back to my days, as a kid, riding my motorcycle though the mountain air... These adventures are surely just the start of an exciting summer!
2. Adventure #2- Feet to the Pavement: My daughter is now old enough and has the stamina to run with me. Running/walking, listening to music and chatting is the perfect adventure to experience alongside her as we both mentally and emotionally prepare for her journey as a middle schooler. ;)
3. Adventure #3- Grant Award: Ann and I spent time recently planning for the expenditure of our technology grant, awarded to us at the end of May. We wrote the grant over a year and a half ago, so the celebratory assembly was truly a surprise. Planning for the "Multiage Minutes University" has been an inspiring process. This will definitely be an adventure that helps us to enhance, and in some ways recreate, our learning environment.
4. Adventure #4- New MAC BOOK!!: Tonight has brought forth a big adventure... digging my way through a new device. One that has been well worth the wait. First came the iPhones, next an iPod for my daughter. I was hooked. An iFanatic! Then my iPad followed (along with iPads in use in the classroom). Now I am the proud owner of a Mac Book. A perfect addition to the iFamily :)
5. Adventure #5- GLAD Training: I have wanted to experience GLAD Training for several years, and recently Ann and I were able to jump at the opportunity to commit to training this summer. Many visitors/observers to our classroom have made comments assuming we are, so we definitely feel as though the GLAD strategies will fit our brain-based philosophy and style as teachers. This adventure is sure to provide new inspiration as we move into the new school year, much like Arts Impact did for us this past year.
Adventures are not moments that are necessarily planned out, but should be welcomed with arms wide open. You can never pinpoint what to expect exactly, but what fun would unfold if you could? Embracing the change, chance and risk within each new adventure sparks growth to an exponential power. The benefits may appear immediately or have a longterm affect; irregardless they are each worthy in their own way. Allow yourself a moment to be free and seek out the adventures that await you.
~Celina
