At the end of each school year I often have lofty goals for my summer break. We all know it's two months but it feels like such a long time that I get over zealous with projects I hope to accomplish. Honestly, every year I got stuck in the desire to be productive and plan out the year but it never really comes to fruition...until the last week, or maybe two, before I'm back on contract and report to work. That's the best case scenario. The reality is that I'm usually tuning out work the entire summer, starting the year by suffering through a whirlwind of random professional development that is either not useful in the classroom or is a rebranded technique from the past, and then frantically decorating my room and figuring out first day plans the night before school starts. Best laid plans each spring in an attempt to make the start of school and daily life just a bit easier in the fall. Adding insult to injury, it always left me in a frenzied state wondering if I was wrong to enjoy my summer break.
Now, are there teachers who manage to carefully plan out an entire year of lessons and assessments during that time? Of course! Some of my best friends are ambitious enough to do that. A couple of them even teach summer school to boot. However, I'm not one of them and honestly I felt like a better teacher for taking as much of those two months to myself as possible.
So what has turned me into the Summer is for Fun police? Well, first off, I didn't have the easiest start to my career which I guess is how this came to shape my thoughts on this topic. My first year I had three preps (courses for my non-educator friends) including AP Macroeconomics. It was common for me to work from 6:30 AM-7:00 PM, or later, as I was learning the content, creating lessons and grading. And I was still working at least one day each weekend. At the end of that year I was put on the surplus list. What this means is that there are too many teachers on the campus for the number of enrolled students the following year. So there I was - an exhausted first year teacher, a nervous wreck not knowing what, or where, I would be teaching the following year. Did I even consider working summer school? No. Not just no, but hell no!
The next spring I didn't know what I would be teaching the following year so there wasn't anything to plan for. This ended up turning into a typical issue for me. I also began teaching mostly English learners (usually referred to as ESL students) which meant I didn't know how to best structure my lessons since I needed to know their English proficiency. It just became an easier routine for me to create a general plan for the year and then finalize details after I met the students assigned to me.
Every couple of years I would seem to gravitate towards curriculum work which I personally love. There is something almost magical to me about organizing state standards into coherent units and lessons. I love finding resources that are actually useful and designing district lessons that teachers might want to use. I just set my own boundary on what I was willing to do during the summer and I was OK with giving the District those two weeks of my time.
There were times when I was required to attend summer training. I'm not proud of these moments but I often have a mini-tantrum in the planning stages because I feel my summer slipping away and I begrudgingly attend them. I wish I could tell you I was more excited, even if I think it's a great training and that I learned something useful. I would just rather be traveling or pool side with a good book. Heck! I would even rather deep clean my house instead.
Honestly we just deserve a break. Most of us work 60+ hours a week and give up time on our weekends. These weeks off are essentially for our mental health. It's time to recharge and be a human for a bit so that we can dive back in and take care of students again. I can actually see friends and family and reconnect with the people I essentially ignored for the majority of my 189-day contract. You know the ones that we always say are most important to us but never seem to find the time to see or spend quality time with? I can choose to read a book (not related to school) and read it without falling asleep. And I can "Netflix and chill" without feeling the rising anxiety of that pile of papers I need to grade but really don't feel like doing.
Bottom line is that your summer is for you. This career makes it all too easy to get lost in an endless cycle of creating, editing and grading. It's all too easy to think we should work it since we are getting paid but the reality is that our contract is paid out over 12 months versus us actually being compensated for 12 months of work. Read that book. Watch that movie. Sip on a beverage and soak in the pool. Do whatever you want but take that break! Save school work for your contract dates.
-Ms. B
Complete the poll below sharing how you spend your summer.
How do you spend your summer?
Everything BUT school!
I try to find balance with work and play.
I can't help myself! I just work, work, work.
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