It's that time of the year again...

Every year it happens...

Every educator knows what it feels like...

Every student knows what it feels like...

Sometimes it's really hard to avoid...

It's so easy to do...

But as we all know, what's easy usually isn't what's best...

Summer is fast approaching and you can feel it as soon as you walk into any school across the globe. Educators have given it all they got and are ready for a much needed breathier and recharge. Students have pushed themselves academically and have grown more than they will ever know, but they too are ready and in need of a summer recharge. Summer is fast approaching...

It's simple if you ask me, and by simple I mean extremely difficult. But, in the face of difficulty we have the choice to persevere, or the choice to be overcome. The weather is turning warmer and the days are growing longer, and as it becomes more and more difficult to concentrate and stay focused, we are faced with our biggest challenge yet... the last few weeks before school lets out for summer.

It's this time of the year when great things are possible in classrooms all across the world. Most standardized testing is over, and now we have time to take risks and try new things in our classrooms that we have wanted to try all year but just never hard time to fit in. We now have the time to go more in depth with a topic we are really passionate about. More importantly, we now have just a short amount of time left to work with students most of us will never see again. The window of opportunity is closing quickly, and if you are not careful, that window will close before you know it.

Challenge...

I challenge you to dig deep and find the remaining fortitude and determination to push on and finish this year stronger than you started. I challenge you to make a connection with a student you have been unable to connect with all year long. I challenge you to try something new in your class or experiment with a different approach in an effort to learn and grow. I challenge you to do what so many struggle to do, and that's to end the year with higher expectations for both yourself and your students.

Remember, you only have a few weeks left, and it's during these next few weeks you will solidify what your students think of you as an educator. It is during the last few weeks of school that the great educators separate themselves from the good educators...