I love summer! I love the slower pace. I love being able to spend sun up to sun down with my kids. I love being able to just sit at the pool and watch my kids as they are smiling and laughing. I love that I can sit and sip a cup of coffee in the morning. I love that I can get more than 5 hours of sleep each night. I truly love summer!
This summer has been more of a working summer for me. I learned how to code in HTML 5 and use CSS. I realize that for many people that accomplishment is merely a "whoopity-doo", but for me it is quite exciting. The grad class that I took this summer was probably the most challenging, yet most rewarding endeavor that I have been faced with in a long time. HTML is really fun. It's mind-boggling, but I found it to be so exciting. Yes, there are time when it brought me to tears of frustration, but I really feel that I have accomplished something. And with excitement and relief, I can unveil my new website: flip.mrsburton.com. This website is designed to help any teacher to successfully transition to a flipped classroom. It is no secret, that I love the flipped method. It is something that I preach. My website has the tools and explanations that one would need to get started and pull off the flipped method. I know that teachers are planning for the upcoming school year, and I hope that this website can help.
Speaking of the upcoming school year, I, myself, am starting to think about what I am going to do differently this year. I felt as if last year went well. I still need to address those students with Ds and Fs. I had a few students who just didn't buckle down and do anything (except show up), at the end of the year. Unfortunately, those students didn't pass. I guess, I really need nag those kids. My plan for those kiddos this year: everyday, I will remind them that they have a D or an F. Everyday, I will point out something that they can do to improve that grade. I will applaud every single little point that they earn. Some students are fine with failing, especially an elective course. Their parents tell them that they could never do a foreign language, and they get this idea that being able to speak a different language is an impossibility for them. I have to figure out how to get those kids to change their mind-set. It's tough, really tough.
I have been working on ideas for a few projects, all of which I hope to share in the upcoming months. For now, I plan to sip my coffee and enjoy my last days of this wonderful time of year.
