I've fielded the same question about a dozen times over the last two weeks, and I suspect many of my colleagues are in the same boat. Maybe my colleagues have fought the urge to loudly and obnoxiously point out the inaccurate assumptions made by this question just like I have as well... "So, are you glad it's summer break?" The question comes in a few slight variations ("I bet you're glad for summer vacation huh?" "Are you glad to be out of school?") and they all make inaccurate assumptions. Inaccurate assumption #1: Once kids are done with their regularly scheduled school year, I am also done with my regularly scheduled school year. This year, the last day of school for students was Friday June 1. I went to Teacher inservice from Monday June 4 through Thursday June 7th. Also... there is no such thing as a "Regularly scheduled school year" for teachers. Sure, school is in session Monday through Friday, September to June. However, my mind never completely shuts down from school mode, and every summer I make wholesale changes in everything from unit plans to the entire structure of my class. For instance, this summer I am expanding from a 4th quarter trial run of gamifying my class into a full-scale, year long program. To do so, it requires a more individualized and thematic program that I am creating from scratch. Then of course there are parody video ideas, alignment to Standards Based Grading (which I have already written about here and here) and website updates to make, including reflecting on my practice (what up Charlotte Danielson???) here in this blog. Inaccurate assumption #2: Oh, I forgot about in-service, and I guess you probably have to go to school in late August too, but at least you have two and a half months in between, right? Wrong. Summer School started Monday June 11th... 3 days after in-service ended. Summer school is 5 days a week through mid-July, with the exception of a long weekend around the 4th of July holiday. Plus, remember that whole "my mind never completely shuts down from school mode" thing I just mentioned? Yep, still applicable here. Inaccurate assumption #3: Well, at least summer school is easier, right? Yes and no... I teach extension classes that students join by choice, but whether it's their choice or their parents' choice is often up for debate. There are no grades which make things easier in theory, but also provide at least some sense that the class doesn't really matter to the kids. Students have plenty of energy to burn in the summer, and I often struggle to get much productivity out of them when they are asked to do tasks on a computer with no true accountability for the final product. Not to mention the fact that I am a 7th and 8th grade teacher, and one of my summer school sessions is 3rd through 5th grade, adding another challenge. Granted, summer school ends at noon, not 3:15... and YES, I do get paid an extra hourly wage for my time. To sum it up, summer school isn't necessarily "easier" than regular school, it's just different. Maybe if they let me "teach" conditioning class I'd say it was easier though :) Inaccurate assumption #4: I bet you're ready for a break from all those students, right? You think I became a teacher because I want to get away from the kids as soon as possible??? Where is the logic in that? I'm sure once the NBA season ends, everyone says to NBA players "well, at least you don't have to play basketball for awhile"... yeah... right. There might be some teachers out there that don't particularly enjoy working with kids, but I am not one of them. Also, don't you remember I teach over a month of summer school? I'm not getting a break from the students anyway! Inaccurate assumption #5: It must be sweet to get paychecks over the summer while you're not working I could remind you how I AM still working, but by this point it's getting repetitive, so I'll take a different angle and describe a typical week during track season when I get paid my typical salary amount as well, despite missing dinner and bed time with my kids due to away meets, time on the weekends diverted to assessing student work and planning because there is none left on the weekdays, and my wife constantly shuffling her schedule as the best dang realtor in Rock County to accommodate my 60 hour week. A construction worker might get huge checks in the summer when they work ridiculously long hours, then much less in the winter if there is less work to be done. I have the same peaks and valleys in hours, but the checks come in equal amounts. OK... TO BE FAIR: The people that ask me those questions DO make several inaccurate assumptions, but the fact that school is not fully in session for 12 weeks is undeniable. The LAST thing I want to do is be another one of those teachers that seems ungrateful, unsatisfied and unhappy with my profession. In my experience, that attitude hurts the image and perception of teachers, and at this point in time, the image and perception of teachers can't take much more damage. So even though I just told you how wrong you are when you ask me about my summer break...
...sigh... ... you're right. Summer break is more of a break than some teachers care to admit. I mean, I just went into full defensive mode up there telling you how hard teachers work over the summer and all the things I do that turn my "break" into a glorified period of working from home. However, the fact of the matter is I have more time in the summer to relax, get re-charged and do things just for ME. I get to play in the sprinkler and kiddy pool with my kids. I will make new meals and take more of the cooking burden from my lovely wife. I can change the oil in my car. I am training for 3 triathlons in August. I am even a few seasons deep into a Madden 08 Franchise Mode on my PS2 for cryin' out loud! People that assume teachers get 3 months off annoy me. One of the only things that might annoy me more is teachers that look for sympathy by rattling off every "overworked, underpaid" mantra in the book. I don't point out the incorrect assumptions about summer "break" so you can feel sorry for me and call your political representatives to demand better pay for teachers (although if you did, that would be like, really awesome of you)... I do it so you realize my summer probably isn't the vacation many imagine. I don't need your sympathy though, because I biked 10 miles this morning, ate breakfast with my son and made breakfast for my daughter, and this afternoon I think we'll play with some toy cars, go to the park if weather permits, and make some tacos with avocados and black beans... All while Mrs. Honish is able to freely schedule showings. So to all the teachers out there, enjoy your Summer "Breaks", and try not to be too hard on the people that make so many of those incorrect assumptions. To all the students out there, enjoy your Summer Break... no quotation marks needed... you have no idea how much free time you have on your hands right now, or how quickly it will disappear. Because of that, I urge you to not waste the whole summer on video games... ...unless it's Madden 08.
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