What do teachers do in the summer?

We can all probably remember a time when someone told us how lucky we are to be a teacher because we only have to work from around 9am-3:30pm and we have a couple of months off each summer.  If only people knew!  We are blessed to be teachers, but not for the reasons most folks think.  I suppose we really cannot complain about the amount of time we have off in the summer, but we need it after working all those 50-60 hour weeks during the school year.  People don’t realize that our brains do not get a break when school is in session.  Teachers lie awake in bed at night wondering how Juan’s parents reacted to his low math grade, whether or not Suzie had a hot meal for dinner, and if he/she selected the best lesson for next week's observation.  Our time off in the summer is very well deserved and is the only time during the year we can relax and stop thinking about school for awhile…but do we?

Students at my school have some definite ideas about what teachers do in the summer. 

“I think that in the summer teachers go to the Bahamas!  If not, I think they go home and sleep in.” - Madison

“I think teachers spend time with their families at the beach.” - Anny

And, my favorite… “I think teachers get together with other teachers and hang out.  Have some fun.  Go to movies.  They have parties.  Play video games.  Have family time.” 
- Keith

As we near the end of our school year, I’m most looking forward to sleeping in and spending some extra time with my friends and family.  It’s not so much about what we are doing, it’s more about the people we are with.

Hopefully, we will all spend some time relaxing, but we will also be making preparations.  Just like we don’t only work from 8am-3:30pm during the school year, we don’t really have months off in the summer.  We will be making preparations for that classroom of bright, young faces who will sitting in front of us in August! 

These kiddos have figured out the truth. 

“I think teachers get ready for their new kids and think what to do and what work.” 
- Penelope

“The teachers come to school to get ready for next year!” - Caidyn

As teachers, we know we will spend many hours this summer getting ready for our new school year, but in the words of Maya Angelou-

Enjoy your summer!  May it be filled with many carefree days.  And remember, summer is when parents realize teachers are grossly underpaid!

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Choosing Kids or the Grade?

When asked "What do you do?" teachers will often say, "I teach first or something like I teach 7th grade math".  Well, I disagree with this. As the times have changed so has our job description.  The amount of differentiation that goes into lesson planning leads me to say, "I teach kiddos."  If someone wants to know a specific grade I will usually say "K-2" or primary. I believe this is the true way we should respond to this question. Teaching has become (or maybe it always has been and I am just now discovering it) more of an open ended profession. What I mean is that I have students come into my classroom from ALL different walks of life and scenarios. From homeless, to hospital bound, to helicopter parents, to lawn mower parents. Kind of like the cast in Willy Wonka......

No matter what the background of the child, my job is to teach THAT CHILD. My job is to get to know them, create an unbreakable bond with them, and teach them the way they learn.  This means if a few kiddos come into my classroom only recognizing a few letters, while some are reading sight words, and others are reading chapter books, then I immediately switch my teaching from the first grade standards to teaching the K standards and the second grade standards simultaneously. These bonds are critical to their learning and extremely tough to accomplish if you have more than 18 kiddos in your classroom. It reminds me of the old timey one room school houses where the teacher would teach everyone no matter what the age or developmental capacity that they were at.  That person would teach the child where that individual child was lacking or what that individual child needed to be inspired to grow. Everyone keeps saying RTI this, RTI that, chart this, chart that.  What I say is that not all kids (or even adults for that matter) learn the same way and everyone should just except that.  Yes kids may need remediation, yes kids may need extra support,  yes kids may need to be challenged, but why in the world are we trying to cram stuff down their throats if developmentally they are not ready for it??? Because some man or woman in a suit (who has never taught a day in their lives) decides that a "first grader" should be able to pass some test? I don't think so.  My point in all of this ranting is that as a teacher we should be able to teach the child the way WE as professionals learned to do.  Make those bonds with the kiddos, play and learn at the same time.  Albert Einstein said it best......."Play is the highest form of research". So how can we accomplish teaching the child? Smaller class sizes with stronger bonds and relationships between teacher, students, and parents. However, I am not going to hold my breath while the politicians make decisions over something they know little about (unless they were in a classroom teaching for at least 5 years in a row). For me, I am just going to keep "trucking along" making sure to adjust the needs of each individual student when and where I can.

What do you choose? The Kid or the Grade?

Read our story on the TPT Blog!!!

Here is our story about the support and collaboration that has led to friendships and laughter, collaborative blogs and Facebook pages, Vegas conventions, and Pinterest parties… the list goes on and on.  http://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/meet-the-tpters-of-virgil-mills-elementary/