Summer=Recharge or Reinvent?

If you are a teacher, you know the amazing feeling of that first Monday of summer vacation!  It is like a gift from above and something that must be experienced in order to be truly appreciated.  Every day of summer vacation is a weekend day!  We enjoy the restfulness of our day, without a care in the world!  There is no alarm to set and no reason to rush, because whatever does not get done today, we can just do tomorrow!  Ahhh, yes, the bliss of summer vacation is upon us and it is a glorious thing to behold.

There are some little known perks of summer vacation that I always forget about until the season arrives!  My favorite summer perks are:

1. Going out to lunch and having more than 15 minutes to eat it!  A little known fact about teachers-we are the masters of eating lunch, going to the bathroom and making a set of copies in 30 minutes or less!

2. Stores being far less crowded! During the summer, I have the opportunity to shop at all hours of the day and I am just in awe of how much quieter the stores are before 4 p.m.

3. Going to the bathroom whenever I want!  I know this may seem silly to the average person, but this is a total teacher perk!  Teachers spend the first month of school slowly training their bladders to adhere to a schedule.  Seriously!

4. Being able to make a phone call in the middle of the day!  It is next to impossible for me to break away and make or even take a phone call during the school day, other than my planning period.  My whole family knows that calling me during the day is a complete waste of their time!  My child's school nurse actually called the nurse at my school and asked her to let me know that she may have a broken wrist!

5. Flip flops all day, every day!  My absolute favorite shoes on the planet are my flip flops.  I have several pairs and slipping them on is the equivalent of Mr. Rogers slipping into his slippers!  I live in my flippies from June until August and then I sadly pack them away in my closet until we meet again next summer!

Now, before you think all I do on summer break is eat, shop, and talk on the phone, let me tell you what else I  do over summer break:

1. Plan my new classroom theme and prepare the materials
2. Read professional development books for the new programs I plan to implement
3. Find fresh activities to go with our units of study
4. Clean out and reorganize my classroom
5. Send welcome letters to my new students
6. Post updates on my classroom page for my former students to see
7. Check out new technology to incorporate into my classroom
8. Attend professional development trainings
9. Update my class website
10. And, of course, spend countless hours on Pinterest, because, well, it has everything

Summer is a time to recharge, but it is also a time to reinvent: reinvest our classroom, our plans, our strategies, and our goals!  It is a time to explore new ideas and cultivate new experiences for our students.  Summer is our time to prepare for our best year, yet!  So, when you see us lounging by the neighborhood pool with our nose stuck in a book, don't be jealous!  Chances are, it is the latest and greatest new teaching book!

Insanity

As a primary teacher, I have my sanity questioned quite often. 

"Why on earth did you choose to teach?" 
"Why do you want to spend your whole day with other people's kids?" 
"Do you ever get tired of cleaning up vomit, snot, and other things that fall out of children during the day?"

Primary teachers are a different breed, and anyone who has spent their day in the trenches of an elementary classroom can confirm this fact.  The truth of the matter is this:  

1.  Yes, teaching is hard and yes, I love every minute of it.  Sure, I could do without the vomit and the snot, but I absolutely love what I do!  I feel honored to spend the day with the children in my classroom.  They are all unique and amazing little people and they make me laugh everyday!  Most people only get to experience the success of their own child. I get to experience the small successes of 20+ children each day and that feeling is inexplicable.  To watch that very moment when it "clicks" and a student understands something for the first time is beyond words.  Being their cheerleader all year and celebrating along with them when they reach their goal is indescribable.  

2.  No, not every day is easy.  In fact, many days are just plain hard.  There are hurt feelings, tears, skinned knees, and wiggly teeth to deal with on a regular basis.  There are cries of "I miss my mom" and "no one will play with me".  There are little hearts breaking because of things that happened long before they even arrived at the door of my classroom.  Each day, teachers pick up these pieces and help to put them back together with love, patience and compassion.  It is a slow process of earning trust and respect.  It is a process we repeat day after day, in hopes of providing a sense of belonging and comfort to all of our students. 

3. Our students have some heartbreaking stories and truly overwhelming situations that I cannot even fathom.  These are the hardest days.  These are the days that keep me in tears long after I lock my classroom door.  These are the days that they don't teach you about in college.  Nothing can prepare you for the first time you experience this with one of your students.  It is gut-wrenching and will bring you to your knees.  You struggle to find the right words to comfort the little person in front of you and you feel at a complete loss to help them.  When the words won't come, you just hold them tightly and cry along with them.  

Why do we do it?  Why do teachers all over this country put their hearts and souls into their "job"?  It's simple, really.  Children are not just a "job" that we can clock out of at 3 p.m. each day.  Children are a life long commitment. They are a part of our lives from that very first moment they enter our classrooms.  They are "our kids".  We will continue to be one of their biggest fans and we will always root for them!  We will always care about them and watch over them and we will always love them. That's what teachers do, we invest in these children for the long haul and there is nothing insane about that.