Recharging…
June 30th, 2007 by Mike Smart
Whoops. Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve updated. With the flurry of activity at the end of school, things got fairly busy during the first half of June. By the time things wrapped up, I was fairly spent. After a week of playing with my children, entertaining visiting friends, and watching some movies, I’ve gotten back to work this past week.
This summer I’ll be working on a new online Japanese course for Northern Star Online, revamping our two existing online Japanese courses, teaching Japanese online, and helping some Chinese teachers learn about constructing/teaching online courses. These projects started in earnest this past week.
This still will leave quite a bit of time still to spend with family, recharge, and enjoy myself. As a teacher, I love the revitalizing that I can do during the summer months. I try to swim outside on a daily basis, get outside as much as possible, and spend a lot of time with family and friends.
Teacher of the Year events are relatively light in the next two months, but pick up again around the middle of August. I did have an interview this past week with Plymouth Magazine, who will be doing a feature article during September. Early in July, I’ll be doing a seminar on Active Learning for a group of administrators at Intermediate District 287.
I’ll be traveling on vacation this upcoming week, but am aiming to write more consistently in a couple of weeks. I still have a list of topics I’d like to address and a half dozen or so topics I’d like to wrap up.
Hello Mike,
I was so happy to read about your being selected as teacher of the year! I took your class about 10 years ago before moving to Japan for Tennant Company. I had tried studying Japanese before and had not gotten much out of it. You really helped to demystify it and even make it fun. Thank you for having a positive impact in my life.
I think it’s great you’re doing this blog, and hope that you influence many teachers positively in the coming year.
Best wishes for a fun-filled year!
Sheila LeGeros
Hi Sheila,
It’s great to hear from you! It’s been a long time.
Thanks for your positive comments, and I’m glad you found the Japanese classes helpful.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming year. I look at this as a chance to give something back to the field of education.
Please stay in touch from time to time (my email is on the “About Me” page). If you have some time, I’m especially curious to hear how your experiences in Japan went.
Mike
Hey there Mike;
Just a note of thanks for a delightful, touching, and informative time @ the District 287 Kick-Off this week. I had heard only great things about you (from a very reliable source, I can assure you!), but now I could determine for myself the credibility of these allegations! Currently serving as a Program Facilitator for District 287 (but always a teacher at heart), I felt a sense of joy as I envisioned the students, staff, and parents who have the privilege, really of being influenced by you.
Congratulations on being selected as Teacher of the Year; it certainly sounds like a well-deserved honor.
Don’t feel that you need to respond to this; I’d rather you devote time to ‘revitalization efforts!’ :0)
Kristi Bergstrom
Kristi,
Thanks for your wonderful comments! Sorry that it took me a bit of time to reply to them. The delay wasn’t caused so much by “revitalization” as it was by the busy pace of the past two weeks.
I’m glad that you enjoyed the District 287 Kick-Off. This is the first year that I’ve seen the event from behind the scenes, and it’s amazing to see the hard work that the district staff pour into the event. It was great fun to be a part of the excitement.
Have a great year!
Mike