Do you work in the summer?

“So you don’t work in the summer?”

This phrase and various other versions of it are said to me each and every summer. It is my version of fingers on a chalkboard, and it sends me reeling (even though I try to hide it). Just ask my husband!

While I know there are lots of teachers that sit around the pool all summer, I am not one of them.  I also know lots of teachers that spend their summers nannying, tutoring, and doing other “2nd jobs” just to get by on their small salaries.

So do I work in the summer?  

Before having my daughter, I was tutoring ALL summer or teaching summer school. Now it isn’t full time, but that doesn’t mean I take a break from learning all that I can about what’s new in our profession and various other things related to work.

I read, plan, and create all summer long.  It isn’t stressful like it is during the school year.  I start the summer by organizing my lesson plan book for the year.  Then, I fill in the calendar information, and I start planning the design of my classroom and map the curriculum out for the year.

I spend time reading through the teachers manuals of new programs we are implementing and I even attend workshops and webinars.  I find supplementary materials to go along with what we are learning.

While it’s usually stress-free, it is still related to my career, so I still call it working.  Do I go out of town on vacations and spend some time outside and at the pool?  Of course, but I am never completely away from my work and I like it that way.  It helps relieve the stress of starting the school year, and it keeps me organized.  

So what do I say in response?  Yes, I still work during the summer, but it’s more preparing for the next year (and yes, that entails some R&R mixed in).

I also am creating products for Teachers Pay Teachers.  Check out my summer sale:  

Blessings,

Colleen