Chasing Summer
According the calendar put out by the school district which employs me, I have been enjoying my summer vacation since June 10th. Teacher workshops begin on August 30, which left me with 11 weeks--77 days--of glorious, sunshine-y summer. Now, 66 days into my summer, I am confused.
As I watched my students file out of my room on the last day of school--wishing some a fond farewell and secretly hoping others would transfer to another district for next year--I was all too aware of the fact that I had curriculum writing the following week, which hardly felt like a vacation. Two days after that, my husband and I left for five days in New York. Now, I recognize that most would say five days in New York is, in fact, a vacation. But as any adult can tell you, vacations are usually far more stressful than working. We returned from New York and I began prepping for summer school. To this day, I am unsure what demon possessed me and convinced me to teach summer school for the month of July, but I am certain that I have rid myself of him. And while a student's ankle bracelet going off during summer school makes for an amusing story, it does not make for a relaxing summer vacation. Those suckers are loud.
So, summer school ended and I found myself marveling at my calendar. August 1st. Summer was two-thirds over and I felt as though I had yet to take a break. But here I was, with a solid month of sunshine and free time staring me down. Instead, I spent far more time than I would have liked familiarizing myself with the local hospital and its myriad of waiting rooms. Alas, another two weeks slipped by.
So here I am, on August 19th, finally ready and able to enjoy my summer. I'm itching to lay outside and lounge in the sunshine. I am ready for farmer's markets, sunburns, and beaches. I am ready to wear shorts.
Instead, I have overcast skies, a temperature hovering around a balmy 65 degrees, and countless emails and messages from colleagues at work about... well, work. I have 30 hours of curriculum writing to complete, and in two weeks, I will have 180 students waiting for me to teach them something.
Perhaps this is the life of a teacher--we dream of long vacations and hours away from our students. Yet, we spend the majority of our "breaks" relentlessly chasing a summer that seems determined to elude us.
Instead of lounging in the sunshine today, I will plug in my flashdrive so that I may update calendars and puzzle over computer lab schedules. It seems that in this particular chess game, summer was always one move ahead of me.
But I still have shorts on.
Check mate.
As I watched my students file out of my room on the last day of school--wishing some a fond farewell and secretly hoping others would transfer to another district for next year--I was all too aware of the fact that I had curriculum writing the following week, which hardly felt like a vacation. Two days after that, my husband and I left for five days in New York. Now, I recognize that most would say five days in New York is, in fact, a vacation. But as any adult can tell you, vacations are usually far more stressful than working. We returned from New York and I began prepping for summer school. To this day, I am unsure what demon possessed me and convinced me to teach summer school for the month of July, but I am certain that I have rid myself of him. And while a student's ankle bracelet going off during summer school makes for an amusing story, it does not make for a relaxing summer vacation. Those suckers are loud.
So, summer school ended and I found myself marveling at my calendar. August 1st. Summer was two-thirds over and I felt as though I had yet to take a break. But here I was, with a solid month of sunshine and free time staring me down. Instead, I spent far more time than I would have liked familiarizing myself with the local hospital and its myriad of waiting rooms. Alas, another two weeks slipped by.
So here I am, on August 19th, finally ready and able to enjoy my summer. I'm itching to lay outside and lounge in the sunshine. I am ready for farmer's markets, sunburns, and beaches. I am ready to wear shorts.
Instead, I have overcast skies, a temperature hovering around a balmy 65 degrees, and countless emails and messages from colleagues at work about... well, work. I have 30 hours of curriculum writing to complete, and in two weeks, I will have 180 students waiting for me to teach them something.
Perhaps this is the life of a teacher--we dream of long vacations and hours away from our students. Yet, we spend the majority of our "breaks" relentlessly chasing a summer that seems determined to elude us.
Instead of lounging in the sunshine today, I will plug in my flashdrive so that I may update calendars and puzzle over computer lab schedules. It seems that in this particular chess game, summer was always one move ahead of me.
But I still have shorts on.
Check mate.
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