You’ve all heard the joke before. What are a teacher’s favorite words? June, July, and August! But for teachers truly dedicated to their profession, truly dedicated to improving their craft, summer is more about connections than it is about time off. In fact, by the time “summer vacation” is over (i.e., Labor Day), I will have been in school for approximately seven weeks. No rest for the weary in Chandler, AZ. But that’s what I signed up for, so I might as well use my time off wisely.

Even though I find it almost impossible to turn off teacher mode, my number one priority is family. My wife and two girls need my attention. Which is why our time in Maine is so important. I get to turn off (as much as I can) and reconnect with my wife as we go for runs on the carriage trails of Acadia National Park. I reconnect with my girls as we explore new hikes and new foods and new adventures on Mt. Desert Island. I reconnect with my mom, a former middle school and high school math teacher and university professor, as we talk shop - see I told you I have a hard time turning it off. Shutting down, as little as it may seen, helps re-energize me for the upcoming year. It makes my marriage healthier. It makes me a better father and a better son.

flickr photo shared by buistbunch under a Creative Commons ( BY-NC-ND ) license

But when I’m not reconnecting with my family, I’m connecting with other educators from around the world. This will be my third year participating in CLMOOC. And while I realize that my active participation has lessened over the years, it is still an important part of my summer. I listen to what other professionals have to say. I question my own practices, as well as the practices of others. I learn about new tools and new resources. I get to share a bit about myself as a person and as a learner to hundreds of people, most I’ve never met.

I hope to make connections in Tucson this week at the Mobile Learning Experience, sponsored by the Arizona K12 Center. Not only will I be attending as many keynotes, breakouts, and optional sessions learning from the brightest in educational technology, but I will also be presenting. If you’re attending the conference, I’d love to meet up and chat. I will be hosting a CoffeeEdu Thursday morning, as well as playing #FindRemind for a chance to win some cool Remind swag.

Finally, I hope to connect with other teacher leaders through the #JJAProject. Join Paula Naugle, Denise Krebs, Sheri Edwards, Laura Gilchrist, and hundreds of others as we take a picture a day during June, July, and August. We’re posting our pictures on Instagram and Twitter using #JJAProject. There are plenty of IFTTT recipes that automatically post Instagram pictures to Twitter as native pictures rather than a link back to Instagram. Join the Flickr group and learn about people through the lens of their cameras. For more details, read Laura Gilchrist’s blogpost about the #JJAProject.

Here’s to June, July, and August. Here’s to time off. Here’s to connections and reconnections.

Today I participated virtually in #EdcampUSA. It is incredible to think that the USDOE and Secretary Arne Duncan are ready to embrace social media as a way to learn from and with educators around the globe. Many of my PLN members were there in person. (Twitter archive from #EdCampUSA - 6/6/2014 - Google Sheets http://bit.ly/1jgxhOp)