This summer marks my first summer as a mom. The school year ended abruptly with virtual teaching coming to a close. School ended by saying goodbye to kids over the internet. Little circles with initials on a Google Meet screen. Many of whom I have never seen their face throughout the whole year. Most of my students were relieved that online school was over, but there was also a handful of them that didn’t want to log off on that last day. It was hard in many ways. I was ready to be done because I was ready to start summer with our new baby. The last day of reporting for duty all teachers were emailed our assignments for the fall. This email brought up uncertain ideas, assumptions, and predictions about what it would be like to return full-time in-person.

I have no idea what the fall will hold.

I am going to be taking our baby to daycare for the first time, we will return in-person to school in masks and go back into my classroom, and we are going to navigate what school looks like after being online for over a year. I miss my classroom more than I can tell you. I miss the way kids would browse books in my classroom library. August comes with so many uncertainties. I am planning on keeping my bullet journal for regular journaling and ideas as I enter the new year, but I am looking to move back into a Passion Planner for August to get myself organized for the school year. This post outlines how I am approaching the middle month of summer as a teacher and new mama, and it shows some key pages that are keeping me organized and motivated. In the past, I have used the month of July for a mid-year check-in. This year, I am taking it one month at a time to learn how to adjust to motherhood.

The Third Coast Camp for Young Writers is an annual summer camp for young writers entering grades 3-8 that happens each year on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. While planning for this year, my teacher partner Mrs. Roberts (Go see her at her teacher blog Literacy Adventures) already met to plan our sessions. I was going to do Animal Memoir writing with a mentor text of El Deafo by Cece Bell, and Mrs. Roberts was going to do science-themed writing sessions with the Science Comics series of graphic novels for kids. We had a plan back in February.

Then, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit our area, and we both navigated through emergency online learning, we were unsure that parents would want a virtual option at all for summer camp. We also were admittedly tired from online learning. After putting out a survey to our own students, their families, and former camp attendees, we got feedback that almost everyone wanted a virtual option for summer camp. So, we pulled together to develop a week-long adventure into writing called Camp Third Coast. See our promotional flyer here. This post is all about the planning of our virtual writing camp, and the lessons that I want to take with me into the fall teaching writing in an online environment. Spoiler Alert: The biggest lesson is that all of our students should we engaged in creative writing as much as possible-even in online learning formats.

I’m not sure I knew that summer burnout existed before this year. There are a ton of possible reasons as to why I am feeling this way. Perhaps, it is the residual burnout from spring online learning, the haphazard end to the school year, or now the impending question of what is to come of the fall. Maybe it is all of the above. Maybe it is more. As I wake up each day to uncertain conversations about what should take place versus what needs to take place and nobody seems to be in agreement with anybody else, I find myself doing a lot of listening and observing. I also find myself wondering how to plan ahead for what I know will be a hard school year this fall.

But, I am certain that this summer burnout is something that I know other teachers are dealing with as well. I see the posts from others each day. I carry many of the conversations with me as I speak with other families, parents, and teachers about what they think of the fall. Many are afraid. Many are overwhelmed. Many are just confused. Summertime is normally the teacher’s time to thrive. Even in the past if I chose to teach summer school, I would be writing every day. I would be reading tons of books, and I would be doing a lot of planning in the form of dreaming for the fall. I normally have a “summer stack” of books that I happily go through and think big in terms of changing how I do business or trying to be a better teacher.

But, I am tired. More than tired.

#NerdCampMI in Parma, MI may be one of the best educational experiences a teacher can ask for in the summertime. Let me be clear: I was already tired from writing camp and wrapping up the school year. But, something about experiencing NerdCamp for the first time left my heart full and my mind open to possibilities in my classroom as a teacher and in my own life as a writer. It didn’t matter how tired I felt; I was ready to be a nerd.

Each summer I am called back to Western Michigan University’s campus. It seems I can’t leave. I got my Masters Degree in the spring of 2014, and I promptly started working with the Third Coast Writing Project’s Camp for Young Writers. Entering the director role in 2017, this camp has been a huge motivation and drive behind my personal development work each year not only as a teacher, but as a writer. It has also taught me a great deal about teacher leadership. My favorite part about writing camp is that each and every adult, volunteer, and student calls themselves “writer.” It is a community that is a given. What we as teachers often spend some time creating in the fall, just simply happens. It motivates me to create this atmosphere in my classroom year after year. We are all writers, after all.

Week two flew by without even slowing down to catch a drink of water. It was tough this week to balance wanting to do the things that summer allows like landscaping, working on an assortment of house projects, leisurely drinking coffee, and writing. I was having some jealousy over those that got to have the time off. My goal was to make it to the beach at least three times. Let's just say my fingers are crossed. 

I can't believe the whirlwind of the first week of summer school is over. There always seems like there are two camps in education: Those that can see why people work summer school and those that think we are crazy. The former camp has been refreshing to return to after working writing camps at the university for the past few summers. And really, teaching is teaching. Isn't it? That depends on who you are talking to. I wonder sometimes if why we all often get into teaching is something we feel renewed with on a day-to-day basis. Do I have to remind myself, what is my why for teaching? Yes. And often. 

The past week has been a whirlwind of starting to wind down and say goodbye to the 2016-2017 school year. Students finished their Common Growth Assessment writing test and also their last blog post. The final days are both bittersweet and painful. Mainly because everyone wants a break, but also because it isn't any fun to say goodbye.