Celebrating The Art of Summering

Do you remember when you were little and the annual back-to-school question was "What did you do on summer vacation?" On #nt2t yesterday morning, Jeremy Bond, my Twitter friend, posed this as one of the questions for the global audience. In addition, he posted, "Would you have students answer the question? Why or why? Would you ask a different question?  

My reply to Question 5 was: 

😎

Today, I am celebrating the art of summering in an authentic way, collecting and designing a gallery of artistic expressions. I am thrilled with the response I am receiving from colleagues around the globe. Here is a sampling of digital inspirations received this weekend. 

Maine

There are many more that will grace the walls of my summer gallery. Interested in depicting your concept of summering? My invitation to The Art of Summering Gallery can be found here. The repository for the digitals is on Twitter at the hashtag, #TheArtofSummering. 

Come celebrate summer 2018 with me by letting your creativity shine. In return, I will celebrate your creative spirit and send the voices of those who create digitals around the globe. 

Many thanks to Ruth Ayres for creating #celebratelu to reflect and celebrate the positives of each week. 

Celebrate Learning to the #Lastbell

Living in the positive world of connected educators allows me to fill each day with new thinking. As a lifelong learner, I join others to continue the path to learning and to provide a fertile ground for our students to grow. Today, I celebrate the learning that I am part of as the school year winds down. 

This past week, I attended a statewide ELA Framework conference. While there I listened and learned from Chris Tovani, reflected, and then, created digital inspirations to tweet out to my colleagues across the globe. It is always motivating to hear thoughts from a national presenter that validates our thinking.

As a statewide team, the educators I worked with were able to follow up our two days of engaged learning with Chris. Through collaborative, collegial conversations, we built a resource library on Schoology for future turnkey presentations on student-centered learning. 

It is a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by like-minded, positive educators who always are concerned about students. Learning is something to celebrate all year round but especially until the last bell of the school year. 

As you celebrate your school closings, post photos of active learning under the hashtag, #lastbell, a movement started by my Twitter colleague, Jennifer Hogan who is the co-founder of #ALedchat, #USedchat, and #LeadLearning.net.

Learning can come from all different sources. #satchat is a leader in Twitter chats. Today's chat on teachers as leaders provided me with the inspiration to synthesize my learning through a digital inspiration. 

Before leaving for the conference, I was inspired to design my garden so family and friends could enjoy the meditation and herb gardens when the weather warms up. While this was not directed instruction from educators, it allowed me to take the skills gathered from years of learning to create. 

In this stilled space, I can continue my learning as I read professional texts to broaden my knowledge bank.

How will you celebrate your learning this week 

and share it with others?

Please visit Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week post here to read how other educators celebrate life from a positive thinking standpoint.