In a few short hours, a new school year will start. I just finished reading my last book of the summer, and so now it’s time for a bit of wrap-up about how I spent those 3 fantastic months called summer.

Here’s a quick look at what I did:

-taught a new workshop called Imagine, Design, Build workshop for Honey Creek’s summer camp.

-applied for and won a MACUL grant to get digital cameras into the hands of middle schoolers in Ann Arbor and South Africa.

-attended 2 meetings of GO-Tech, the Ann Arbor area DIY technology group, and presented about Processing at one of them

-did lots of curriculum planning, including starting to work through the Understanding by Design book

-went camping with the family twice and took ’em to Michigan’s Adventure, a great amusement park/water  park.

-played guitar at church a lot (almost every Wednesday) and helped with our Vacation Bible School.

-cleaned & reorganized my music studio

-took lots of photos, including starting to use off camera flash with the purchase of a Wein peanut slave

-worked on planning for updates to the chromedecay site, including wireframing and new WordPress install

-read lots of books:

Work Hard, Be Nice – Jay Mathews
Close Kin – Clare Dunkle
The Hollow Kingdom – Clare Dunkle
Wired for War – P.W. Singer
Here, There Be Dragons – James A. Owen
Churchill – Roy Jenkins
Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain – Richard Collie
DroidMaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution – Michael Rubin
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940 – William Manchester
The Right Stuff – Tom Wolfe
Meet the Austins – Madeleine L’Engle
The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

Here’s to a fantastic school year, filled with learning, teaching, and inspiration!