I am just about finished marking my final projects and exams for the term…my brain feels like mush! It’s amazing how tiring it is to read and mark the results of someone else’s work; perhaps it has something to do with the connection between how successful we have been as teachers and how much our learners are walking away from the term having learned.

The end of term is certainly bitter sweet. Having spent 4 months with various groups of students, I finally feel like I’ve have gotten to know them…then my time with them is done. One particular class so inspired me with their final projects that I want to keep them for another term!

As teachers we so much want to inspire our students to expand their learning, their worldview. We want to help them catch a glimpse of the exciting adventures ahead of them, and prepare them for that journey. We can set the stage for that learning, we can create the thirst for that learning, but as Maryellen Weimer reminds us in her book, Learner Centered Teaching, we can’t make them drink. http://www.facultyfocus.com/topic/articles/teaching-professor-blog/

So what can we do? Well, I think the first thing we can do is to stay thirsty ourselves, and continually work towards quenching that thirst. School’s out, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for our brains to vacate. True, we need to take time to relax, but we also need to be refreshed and rejuvenated…we need to be inspired so that we can be an inspiration. (The 3 ‘Rs’)

Summer session starts for me right away in May and goes until the end of June…not quite time to close the books. However, the full workload is greatly reduced allowing time to slow down, and fill up. This also means that I have time once again to contribute on a more regular basis to my blog. I continue to probe and ponder topics, issues and concepts, but for the next 4 months the focus will be on ‘How do I relax, refresh and rejuvenate’, so that when September hits, I’m ready to hit the ground running.

I invite you to journey along with me, add your own experiences, and then learn together.

Let’s explore…