How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways
Teachers love summer. This is not to say we don't love our jobs or students, or that we are not eager and ready to go back to work in September. This is only to say that we, like our students, love summer. Unabashedly and unequivocally love summer. So, in the spirit of the first day, I will count the reasons for my love of the next twelve weeks.
1. I get to sleep past 4:30am. There is nothing--nothing--to rival this feeling.
2. I can once again read for fun. (Okay, to be honest, I do a fair amount of this during the school year. But during the summer I can do it guilt-free).
3. I can pee whenever I want. Perhaps only other teachers can truly understand the wonder that is the unscheduled bathroom trip, but it is not to be underestimated.
4. I see sunlight. Often. During the school year, I work in a windowless classroom, and--as Minnesota winters stretch the dark hours of the day to 14 hours or more--I often go five or six days at a time with no real proof that the sun actually does rise everyday. Thus, I have learned not to underestimate the importance of Vitamin D.
5. I do not have to wear makeup everyday or relentlessly flat-iron my wavy hair into submission. This may not be a benefit for those who see me everyday, but that matters less to me.
6. For 12 glorious weeks, I will not have to say any of the following phrases: "Yes, you may go to the bathroom," "There is a test out right now; you should not be talking," "Yes, it is still late," or (my favorite) "Stop touching each other."
7. The emotional baggage I deal with over the summer is mine, not that of the 200 students who filter through my room, many of which will come to me with problems that will occupy my waking hours and prevent me from sleeping as I worry. Summer gives me a chance to recharge my emotional reserves, which will--of course--be required during the course of the upcoming school year.
8. My spare bedroom is miraculously free of that guilt-inducing stack of waiting-to-be-graded homework.
9. I can once again see friends and family without fretting about how I will possibly get everything done. And my friends and family appreciate the noticeable reduction in the number of my stories beginning with, "So one of my students . . ."
10. And--the most important reason I love summer--I can once again file away another year and focus on how I will improve for the next year. Mine is a job that affords me the opportunity to start anew--to start better and stronger--every nine months. I appreciate the summer as an opportunity to study, to improve, to plan, and to reflect. I appreciate the summer as an opportunity to put away past failures and shortcomings and find new excitement and passion for a new year.
I know some people can't believe teachers get 12 weeks off. They think it is ridiculous and means that we do not work hard enough, or that our jobs are somehow not as "real" as other jobs. I, in return, cannot believe that some people in the world get paid to work more than 40 hours a week and do not take work home routinely. In my opinion, we're square.
And with that all said, I just learned that I have a curriculum review meeting tomorrow from 8:00 until 3:30pm that our Curriculum Review Specialist didn't tell many of us about until the last minute. So perhaps my ode to the wonder of summer is a bit premature.
Such is the life of a teacher.
1. I get to sleep past 4:30am. There is nothing--nothing--to rival this feeling.
2. I can once again read for fun. (Okay, to be honest, I do a fair amount of this during the school year. But during the summer I can do it guilt-free).
3. I can pee whenever I want. Perhaps only other teachers can truly understand the wonder that is the unscheduled bathroom trip, but it is not to be underestimated.
4. I see sunlight. Often. During the school year, I work in a windowless classroom, and--as Minnesota winters stretch the dark hours of the day to 14 hours or more--I often go five or six days at a time with no real proof that the sun actually does rise everyday. Thus, I have learned not to underestimate the importance of Vitamin D.
5. I do not have to wear makeup everyday or relentlessly flat-iron my wavy hair into submission. This may not be a benefit for those who see me everyday, but that matters less to me.
6. For 12 glorious weeks, I will not have to say any of the following phrases: "Yes, you may go to the bathroom," "There is a test out right now; you should not be talking," "Yes, it is still late," or (my favorite) "Stop touching each other."
7. The emotional baggage I deal with over the summer is mine, not that of the 200 students who filter through my room, many of which will come to me with problems that will occupy my waking hours and prevent me from sleeping as I worry. Summer gives me a chance to recharge my emotional reserves, which will--of course--be required during the course of the upcoming school year.
8. My spare bedroom is miraculously free of that guilt-inducing stack of waiting-to-be-graded homework.
9. I can once again see friends and family without fretting about how I will possibly get everything done. And my friends and family appreciate the noticeable reduction in the number of my stories beginning with, "So one of my students . . ."
10. And--the most important reason I love summer--I can once again file away another year and focus on how I will improve for the next year. Mine is a job that affords me the opportunity to start anew--to start better and stronger--every nine months. I appreciate the summer as an opportunity to study, to improve, to plan, and to reflect. I appreciate the summer as an opportunity to put away past failures and shortcomings and find new excitement and passion for a new year.
I know some people can't believe teachers get 12 weeks off. They think it is ridiculous and means that we do not work hard enough, or that our jobs are somehow not as "real" as other jobs. I, in return, cannot believe that some people in the world get paid to work more than 40 hours a week and do not take work home routinely. In my opinion, we're square.
And with that all said, I just learned that I have a curriculum review meeting tomorrow from 8:00 until 3:30pm that our Curriculum Review Specialist didn't tell many of us about until the last minute. So perhaps my ode to the wonder of summer is a bit premature.
Such is the life of a teacher.
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