Summer Goals

As the year that would never end finally came a close, one of the tasks I had to check out was to review my Professional Growth Plan.  I'm not sure if other professions require this level of introspection on a yearly basis, but at my school, we examine goals in a variety of categories, spiritual, relational, professional development, and technology use in pedagogy.  One of the things they ask us to do is to choose a word that we would like to focus on for the following year.  In the past, I have chosen words like Depth and Enjoy.  Last year, I chose the word Trust.  

The word I have chosen for next year is Restore.  This year was a lot of things, but most of all, it was exhausting.  I don't mean tiring (although it certainly was that).  I mean exhausting in the sense of depletion.  Teachers were drained of physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy without the social aspects that usually refill those reservoirs.  I chose the word Restore as a way of thinking about stocking back up on those resources.  To that end, I am also structuring my summer goals (which I always set to keep summer from slipping away while I just watch TV) around renewing some of what became depleted.

1.  Getting my brain back - For me, one of the things that occurred from the lack of physical contact during the lockdown was structural brain changes (I'm trying to avoid saying the phrase brain damage) resulting from a lack of oxytocin.  From March to June of 2020, the only other being I physically touched was my cat.  From June of 2020 until March of 2021, I was still only engaging in physical contact with my mom.  After vaccination, I started touching people a bit more, the occasional pat on the back or punch to the arm; but it wasn't until two weeks ago that I started having regular contact, hugging friends and students.  That lack of oxytocin has created some cognitive issues, mostly slow processing (kind of a brain fog) and searching for words (mostly people's last names).  For that reason, I am going to do a lot of mental weight lifting this summer.  I have a large stack of books on a variety of topics, both fiction and non-fiction; and I am starting with Tolkien.  I have already started The Hobbit, and I hope to get through at least one of the Lord of the Rings books in addition to other reading (The Stuff You Should Know book that's been waiting to be read since November, a book on church history I have had for a year and finally started reading last week, a few books about learning, and some novels).

2.  Physical Health - While I was careful not to eat poorly throughout the pandemic and did not gain weight from it, I know the stress under which I have been operating for the past year has taken a physical toll.  I first noticed it when I gave blood last September.  My blood pressure was higher than it has ever been, and it has been high (for me) every time that I have given blood since.  To that end, I have to do some aerobic activity to bring it back down.  I have been clenching my jaw at night since August 3rd.  My Vitamin D level got pretty low this winter, so I want to get back to long outdoor walks.  Also, at 45, I feel like it important to build muscle strength, so I'm doing a little weightlifting, including a full box of yearbooks so that, by next year's distribution day, it won't feel as strenuous loading those into the car.

3. Working on my House - School required all of my thought and energy in the past year, so my house got very little attention.  I've got some home repairs to do, and some of my walks will be to Home Depot for the tools I need to do that.

4. Reacquainting Myself with Public Spaces - This morning, I went to Walmart for only the third time since January of 2020, and it gave me just a little anxiety, not because I'm worried about the virus, but because I just haven't spent much time around strangers (or anyone outside of my family and school people) in a long time.  I know when I go to camp in July that I will have to make 6 or 7 trips to Walmart, so I need to reacclimate myself to this store.  I have only been in a restaurant three times, and I haven't been to church in person because we were supposed to register and sit with our bubble.  That would have meant me surrounded by six empty seats, which felt silly because a six-person bubble could have been in the space I was taking up alone.  That requirement has now been lifted, so I plan to return to church in person next week.  Many of my walks this summer are going to be public spaces, just so I can get back being in them.  

5.  School videos - For some time, I have thought that it might be good to have some videos for students to review while doing homework or to pull from on a day when I have a sub or to do a flipped lesson.  I had never done it because setting up and familiarizing myself with the tech I would need was time-consuming.  This year, doing everything online meant I had to develop familiarity with many tools.  I started making some of these videos on Memorial day weekend, and I have been making 1-3 each day (some are more complicated than others) ever since.  I will be able to begin school next year with a decent pool from which to draw different types of lessons, reviews, and help for struggling students.

This is what I have chosen for myself, and I do not expect it from anyone else.  You may have decided that recovery from this year looks like playing Fortnite with your kids all summer.  You might want to binge Seinfeld.  You might want to train for a marathon.  All of that is fine, but I would say that whatever you decide, be intentional about the goals you want to meet.  For you, it may be catching up with your family or allowing yourself to do nothing for an hour a day.  What do you want to restore this summer?  Design your days around that, so you don't enter August 2021 as depleted as you are right now. Get some rest.