(Brian) I spent way too many summers the wrong way. My foolishness would start before it ever began. During the last weeks of school I would craft a master list of hopeful summer ambitions:
- I wanted to revamp all my units
- I wanted to read a bevy of professional books
- I wanted to redesign and organize my handouts
- I wanted to immerse myself in the complete works of a canonical author
What I was really doing was setting myself up to play the martyr, sacrificing my summer for the betterment of my students.
Thank goodness my ambitions always outran my abilities. Little to none of it ever came to fruition. Had I accomplished all I set out to achieve, I would have returned a lesser teacher, not a better one.
What student wants to come back in the fall to a teacher that whines about all the sacrifices they made for their students’ betterment? When building student relationships, resentment easily becomes a two-way street.
My summer goals have matured and been narrowed down to one:
I WANT TO LEAD AN INTERESTING LIFE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL SO THAT I CAN BRING AVENTURES AND TALES BACK TO THE CLASSROOM.
I rarely step foot in school or do things for school. Instead of lists, my days don’t have a set agenda.They are now a mosaic of a little bit of everything that I find interesting, like:
- We travel a bit as a family
- I try to read at least one novel for pleasure
- I want my bare feet to touch the earth each day
- We get morning bagels and drive onto the beach
- There are lots of afternoon naps, especially after a swim
- I conduct a handful of summer workshops for AP teachers
- I write if the mood strikes me
- I coach summer basketball
(Susan) I am Kate Bowler obsessed these days (pardon my girl crush), and when I saw her commencement address at the University of Manitoba this year, my summer plans were set:
Be interested and be interesting.
Here’s how I plan to be interested and be interesting this summer:
- A slow and largely underplanned trek up the northern California and Oregon coast (please send any recs!!!)
- Reading There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Goldstone) for my local book club and Whereabouts (Lahiri) for a possible online book club next month
- Lunching with friends (Core Ele-Four this is our week!!!)
- Trying a new recipe each week (@seattlehanddoc, @erinnobrien and @mackstonedad are my favorite food influencers at the moment)
- Changing up my exercise routine to include yoga and swimming
- Exploring Atlanta Happy Hour places that have been on the list way too long (shout out to Phoebe and Kate who have built in Tuesday afternoons in their schedule for this pursuit)
- Leading some workshops for AP teachers – I’m 2 in and am already inspired, challenged, and hopeful for the future of education. Teachers are THE BEST!!!
- Watching Off Campus and The Other Bennet Sister
- Leading a Frankenstein book club at my church
Notice what’s not on the list:
- Reflecting on last year – I build some of this into the end of the year and will do some more when I go back to school
- Planning for the upcoming year – nope, nope, nope. And if you need to do this to live a more sane life during the year, the by all means, do so. But I suggest putting limits on your planning time and not let it consume your summer.
- Organizing/cleaning my room at school. I don’t even clean my house like I should, so this is definitely out.
The paradox is this: in order to be engaging in the classroom, teachers must set aside time and space to engage with the world around us.
Enough writing. Enough reading. Time to enjoy summer.
Brian (a high school teacher and basketball coach on Long Island) and Susan (a high school teacher in Atlanta) met on Twitter (#rip) over a decade ago and became fast friends bonding over teaching literature, building classroom culture, and the importance of a good cup of coffee. Their book, 100% Engagement: 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom, is available through Corwin. (use SAVE20 for 20% discount at Corwin).
