It’s official.  School is out!  When I was young, I remember summer being a time full of learning.  Of course, I didn’t sit in a classroom and learn like I did in school.  I did so much more!  I learned about teamwork while doing projects at camp. I learned about other places when I got chances to use the vacation time to travel. I even learned about getting along with my family better, since we often had more time to spend together when school wasn’t in session.

What are you going to learn this summer?

Whether you are traveling or not, I challenge you to learn something new this summer.  And not just anything!  Innovation Academy is going global, and we need your help to learn about the world. I will be blogging from China for 7 weeks this summer, but I hope to involve you in this journey too! If you are a member of the Innovation Academy community, join in:

There’s plenty to enjoy here in Massachusetts!

If you are staying local:

Read, comment, and share!  READ the new entries as they come in, getting a chance to see new places as Ms. Krakauer experiences them.  If we are lucky, we might also have some guest entries from other Innovation Academy teachers and community members.  COMMENT on entries to ask questions, give ideas, or offer reflections. Make sure to use proper spelling and grammar, and only one exclamation point at a time.  SHARE what you read with friends, family, and others who might like to join the fun!

If you are visiting another country this summer:

Balloon twisting in Mexico, 2007

Consider sharing your experiences on this blog. It’s very simple. Send an email with photo attachments to skrakauer@innovationcharter.org.  Explain where you are, and describe what you are learning about this new place, its people, and their culture.  Tell readers what’s most special about the place you are visiting.  I’ll put it up on the blog and take care of all the formatting.

Who else is reading this blog?

The map above shows countries where people have read this blog in the last 3 months.  This is a feature of the website that I use to make the blog, wordpress.com.  As you can see, most readers are in the United States (more than 10,000 views here), but there have been readers in more than 65 countries! The countries besides the U.S. with the most views include: Ukraine, Turkey, Canada, India, France, UK, Brazil, Belgium, Poland, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Netherlands, Kenya, and South Africa.  Wow!

If you are reading this blog and you live outside of the United States:

Say hello!  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, and let us know where you are writing from. Tell us about where you live. The goal of this site is to make global connections, so that means we want to meet YOU.

This is just the beginning.

I leave for China on Monday, but we’ve already taken off.  Innovation is going places. Join us!