No School - It's Summer!
The last song sung. The last good-bye said. The last dismissal bell rung. The last student departed. The teacher returns to the classroom, surveys the emptiness, and listens to the silence. The silence is deeper and lonelier than the normal after school quietness. There is no lingering echo of childish voices. There are no lessons to plan for the next day. It is the silence of waiting, an emptiness that won’t be filled until children enter the door again in a few months.
The euphoria of release from duty is tinged with melancholy. The last nine months have been intense, but they have followed a set routine with a defined cast of characters. That has ended. Those moments will never return. For good or ill, the year is done.
And now, stretching out for the next ninety days is summer, glorious summer with its lack of school concerns. How will you fill its days?
There are two categories of teachers who close their classroom doors at the end of this term. For some, they are also closing this chapter of their life and saying goodbye to the classroom. Others lock the door upon the past year but still hold the key, planning to open it again in a few months. No matter which category you find yourself in, there are a few important things to do before you move on.
First of all, put the past year to rest. Finish filling out the records. Put the papers in the proper files. Clean out the desk drawers. Organize the closet. Sort out the flashcards. It can be tempting to shut the door today and think I’ll get to all that next month or later. But do it now. You will thank yourself in August.
Take stock of your year. What went well? What didn’t go well? What do you need to change? What do you want to keep? Make yourself some notes. It is easy to forget what you thought you wouldn’t.
If someone else is taking your place next term, leave them some notes. List the different resources you’ve used to teach your material. List the extra projects and traditions you’ve done with your class. Leave a list of your rules and procedures and your schedule. Give them a micro-picture of life in your classroom. They may not need your ideas. They may want to take things in a different direction. But this way, you’ve given them a place to start.
Once this year is finished, take a break from school-related things. Our minds and lives are better if not constantly filled with school. Plant flowers in a flower bed. Read a book that is not about school. Take a hike. Enjoy a day out with friends. Go on a trip. Get a summer job. Give yourself time to do things not related to school.
Learn something new this summer. Learn a new skill or further develop the ones you have. Explore an area that will help you in your teaching—such as a deep dive into a science or history field, or ways to make reading and math stick. Enjoy a new hobby. Read a pedagogical book. A teacher should always be learning.
Summer is also a time to prepare for the year ahead. Are there things you can do now that will help you in the busy days of next term? Are you teaching a new-to-you course? Use the summer months to preview and prepare. Does your science or history curriculum need new notes or quizzes and tests? Work on them this summer. Plan ahead for a bulletin board or two. Prepare an art schedule and make samples. You will thank yourself next year.
Summer stretches out before us. Enjoy it. If you are a teacher who plans to open the classroom door again in the fall, use it to refresh and refuel for the next term. And may August find you as enthused as your students about entering another year.
