Summer Time Bucket List

One of the activities that I have my students complete at the end of the year is the creation of a bucket list for the summer. If you haven't heard of a bucket list before it's simply a list of things you want to accomplish, if you go based on the original movie about it you make the list of things you want to do before you die. In the case of my students, summer is a perfect length of time to make some goals.

Their lists included things like:

• playing messy Twister
• hanging out with my best friend for an entire weekend without interruption
• reading a book every day
• going swimming at least once a week

We had a great time sharing some of our lists and they really found some great things to work on. I made my own bucket list for this summer (though it wasn't really shared with my kids!) because I like to keep occupied. Down time is great, but having a plan is also really encouraging, especially at the end of summer when you can look back at what you checked off of your list.

My list includes things like:

• running a 5k (did one, another is in a few weeks)
• reading at least 5 new books this summer
• getting a tattoo
• going to the aquarium with my daughter
• attend technology training classes for the district as often as possible to keep up with new information

I've accomplished a few of those already, I'll let you figure out which ones :) What do you plan for the summer? Do you just sit back and relax, or are you a planner? Either way, I hope that you take the time over the next few weeks to do something you love. When we go into the classroom in the fall with our own passions and hobbies, it's easy for the kids to see who we are and get to know us better. You never know, your one bucket list item might be that connection you'll have with the hard to reach kid!