Summers Off/On

My Dad has been teaching for over 30 years. He has no plans to retire anytime soon because, as he puts it, he loves his job and is able to keep doing it, so why stop? You go, Dad. Anyway, I don't know what it is about teachers, but they seem to amass a lot of novelty mugs. One mug that I remember seeing when I was a kid was a pure white mug with a few words on it:

3 Reasons To Love Teaching:

June

July

August

That's exactly how it looked on the mug. I can see it in my mind's eye. It took me a while to get the joke behind this mug, but rest assured, I get it now. There is this idea that teachers have the summer months "off." I have to tell you that everyday over the summer break, my Dad wakes up at his normal time (4:45 am), bikes into school, updates his curriculum and does other teacher stuff, and then bikes home. I've never seen my Dad have a summer off, and I know a lot of other teachers who spend their summers tutoring, teaching summer school, or working part-time or full-time summer jobs to supplement their income. When I was growing up, it was not uncommon to go to Hershey Park (a local attraction where I'm from) and run into a couple of my teachers working around the Park. 

So you may be wondering what I have planned for this summer. First and foremost, I have a road trip planned to meet my future in-laws, as well as a family trip to the beach planned, but I also have some big school plans for the summer!

Goal #1:

Plan for the first six weeks of school with the help of my friends Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete. This book is part of the Responsive Classroom Model. The idea of Responsive Classroom is that the social-emotional curriculum of your classroom is just as important as the academic curriculum. This book is an amazing guide to structure the routines and procedures you want to put in place in the early days of the school year. Once I find out where and what grade I will be teaching, I want to hit the ground running with planning.  

Goal #2:

Hit up every Yard Sale I possible can to collect books and things for my classroom! I want my classroom to be a warm and welcoming place, and that means putting some extra, personal touches in the room. I have no idea what this might look like, but I know that I will be on the look out for inexpensive things that may present themselves at neighborhood yard sales. You never know what you will find!

Goal #3:

Brush up on my science skills. When I took all my methods classes last semester, I was definitely most nervous for Science Methods. I think science is the subject that I have the least natural capabilities for, which meant that growing up, I sort of hated it. I now take a more Growth Mindset approach to the subject and know that as long as I work hard at it and persist, I will be a competent science teacher. I also know that I could use some extra help. I'm a member of the National Science Teachers Association and as such, I have access to a lot of online resources and magazines they send me in the mail. Since I'm so busy, those magazines usually end up in a pile of unread things. But! This summer I plan on catching up on all things science-y so I can be extra-prepared for the school year. 

Goal #4:

Plan our wedding. I know that this isn't technically about school, but what do you think is going to suffer if our wedding isn't planned by the time the school year starts? Yeah, that would be my sanity, and my sanity is key to being a good teacher. If I get major wedding things out of the way over the summer, then I won't have to worry about them in September and early/mid October, when I will be teaching full-time. I might as well write some sub-plans for October 30th, because I definitely won't be in school that day…

Goal #5: 

Take care of myself. This speaks for itself. I need to be in a good place when I head into that classroom because my future students deserve the best I can give them!