One of my biggest pet peeves is when non-teachers comment on how teachers get their summers “off.” I would argue that summers are often some of the busiest times of the school year for teachers. Going into my nineteenth year of teaching, I still spend my summers working on my craft. I always tell myself that it’s time to leave teaching when I have perfected it. Thankfully, I am not anywhere near being the perfect teacher! Summer time is my time to rest, reflect, and revise. Here is what I am not doing this summer, and what I am doing instead.
I am NOT sleeping in.
As I write this post, I have already been on summer break for a little over one month and I have one month until my reporting date for the new school year. It has been tempting to sleep in. Each school year is incredibly exhausting for different reasons. Teaching is mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging even under the very best circumstances. Add in challenging student behavior, an unhappy parent, an unsupportive administrator, or any host of unforeseen situations that could pop up during a school year, and any teacher would want to fall asleep on the day after the last day and not wake up until reporting day! I had an amazing 2025-2026 school year, and I was still exhausted! But, I have made the choice to not sleep in. Instead, I am taking my mornings slowly. Although I have a set routine for my teaching days, it is quick and efficient so I can get to work on time without rushing. During the summer, I am taking that same routine and stretching it out. Taking the time to awaken slowly, savor my skincare routine, and eat my breakfast slowly has been the piece of self care that I often miss during the school year.
I am NOT ignoring my prep.
After a long, grueling school year, it is so tempting to put anything about teaching out of your mind. Doing this, however, leads to scrambling to put things together in the days before the beginning of the school year. This mad dash is incredibly stressful! Taking this stress into the new school year sets us up for extra stress throughout the year. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need that kind of stress going into my new year. Instead, I am setting aside about an hour a day to reflect on last school year and prepare for the upcoming school year. Each day, I take a look at my old planner and Google slides, and start planning and prepping what I am going do with my students for this coming school year. By the time I have to report back to school, I will have a plan and some materials ready for my incoming third graders.
I am NOT going to be too hard on myself.
As I said earlier, I am nowhere near perfecting my teaching practice. It is hard for me to not rake my methods and strategies through the coals. I have observed that many teachers are very hard on themselves, too. How could we not be? We know how important our work is to the growth and development of the little humans that have been entrusted to us. But, I finally decided to treat myself the same way I would treat my students — with grace and compassion. I wouldn’t rake a student’s work over the coals, so why should I do that to my work? Instead, I am choosing to reflect on what went well and revise what needs more work. Choosing to be reflective and proactive will help me feel more confident in my teaching practices.
If you are in a part of the world that is celebrating being on summer vacation, I hope you are enjoying yourself! Don’t forget to take the time to rest, reflect, and revise before the new school year begins. If your part of the world is still in school right now, I hope you’re having an amazing year! And, I hope you feel inspired to rest, reflect, and revise when your school year ends.
