Teacher like to enjoy summer. Jealous? Then try teaching.....that's all I have to say about that. What do teachers do in the summer? Plan one nice vacation, if they're lucky. Relax? Maybe. Enjoy their families? Of course. Search pinterest for classroom ideas? Some do. Plan how to decorate next year's room? Yes, some do....you see, a teacher is always looking for the best ways to engage students. "Engage" is one of the latest buzzwords in education. It was preceded by "on-task", and "focused" and many others. It simply means that the teacher has worked enough magic to get the students all doing what they are supposed to be doing.
Summer!! It's a running joke that the teachers count down for summer more than the students. In some cases, it's true. A lot of students don't look forward to staying home or going to day care while Mom and Dad go to work. Being at school all day with their friends is much more fun. Other students are privileged to know that sleeping in, Disney vacations, visits from Grandma, trips to the beach are all on the calendar. Between those that are not anticipating summer, and those that can't wait, the last few weeks of school are extra-tiring for the teachers. We are expected to use whatever is in our bag of tricks to keep the students on-task and "engaged". We all preach the same sermons; "The rules are in effect until the very last day". "It is not summer YET!" We all find extra-special ways to reward good behavior, in order to stave off the mean talk, hitting, etc. On the last day that teachers are in the building, that "clean-up and get out!" day, teachers are exhausted.
But the other side of that coin is - summer does arrive! No more morning alarm, unless you choose to schedule yourself for something. No more waiting 90 minutes or more to use the restroom, because you just can't walk out on a room of seven-year-olds! (Not my favorite part of teaching, truth be told.) No "show" to put on all day long to cause "engagement" by those around us. Have you ever seen a teacher take their own kids to a museum during summer vacation and constantly read and show everything as if they were a guide? Turning off the engagement mentality is not always easy. Even worse, the teachers in an adult group - Vegas vacation, concert outing, grown-ups at the beach - that insist on everyone playing the game, or going to the restaurant, or seeing the show, etc. etc. A teacher's instinct is to include all, engage all! Not always relaxing.
All careers have their pressures, their busy seasons, their horrible bosses, their deadlines....that's a fact of life. And many careers have a small portion of their day or week where they have to present an idea, pitch a product, and keep the attention of others for a period of time. I do dare to say, though, that teaching is fairly unique in the realm of having to keep others engaged during all working hours.
Teaching is just one of those careers that have the human element woven in to all the pressures, deadlines, and busy seasons. I truly believe that nurses and first responders fall squarely in that category as well. I also know that there are many similar "human dependent" careers that I am not mentioning, because I am focusing on teachers. Not only are teachers expected to mold, hypnotize, enthrall and engage between 20 and 150 different humans for 7 hours a day, the humans are of the immature variety. One indicator of our performance assessment is the observer ranking us on whether the students are engaged! Thank goodness, so far in my career I've had observers that understand how random this can be. If there's a class of thirty 6-year-olds, and two are engaged in an argument left over from the playground, one is engaged with a blister on her foot and another is engaged in asking for the restroom, chances are that the other twenty-six are not engaged in the skill the teacher is trying to convey!
Teachers juggle these situations daily. Not just once daily, but consistently, all-day-long, daily. It's the by-product of our educational system and calendar. Too much togetherness can breed over-familiarity; good and bad routines can spring from such situations. I will stop and say right here that most (95%) of the teachers that I have ever worked with are amazing, patient, creative and overly giving. Teachers are indeed a special group. However, I know, being a part of the crowd, that those amazing individuals go home many a night with nothing left for their families. Or they go home, take a deep breath, do just as much for their families in the evening, get a little sleep, and wake up exhausted only to do it all again.
So, teacher friends, say hello to summer with a smile. You deserve a break. A break in the consistency of pressure, deadlines, meetings, parent phone calls, evaluations.......although you're still going to run into those little darlings at the local store! You (in my current place) have 11 weeks off to recharge, stop worrying and rest up. So be quiet, read a book, soak up the sun, see a movie - and quit trying to engage everyone around you. Because as soon as that date to return rolls around, you have to start engaging everybody all day long once again!
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