Welcome to the Weekly Summer Reset
Hello and Happy New Month Reader,
Welcome back to the most relaxed version of this newsletter you are going to get all year.
Happy Sunday. This is the lightest this newsletter gets all year, and that is on purpose.
It is early July. The classroom is behind you for a minute. If you already went back to planning, close the tab. If you have been avoiding it, good. You are right on time.
Here is the truth before anyone hands you a to-do list. You do not have to earn your summer. The year will still be there in three weeks. Rest is not the thing you do after the work. It is the thing that makes the work possible.
So today, one idea. That is all.
THIS WEEK'S IDEA: Reconnect To Your Why
Before you pick a single book or plan a single lesson, remember what read-aloud is actually for. It is the ten minutes a day where every child in the room belongs before they are asked to perform. That is the whole thing. That is why we protect it.
You do not need a strategy today. You need to remember the feeling.
THE BOOK I OPEN EVERY YEAR
━━━━━━━━━━
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson.
I read it on the first day, every single year. Before the rules. Before the procedures. Before a worksheet ever touches a desk. Because a child who does not feel like they belong cannot yet learn to read like they do.
You do not have to plan it right now. Just notice it is the one you reach for, and hold that.
ONE SMALL THING (only if you want it)
Reply to this email with the first read-aloud you reach for every year. The non-negotiable one. I read every reply, and I am building something with them later this month.
That is it. Put the planner down. Go be a person today.
With love,
Patty