Summer-it is still a few months away, but already we teachers are making plans for our few months off. Personally, I know that all the running, working, grading, and planning that I do during the school year leaves me ready for a well-deserved few weeks of doing NOTHING! Yet, when someone who is so used to going all the time tries to relax, nothing only happens for a few days and then I start itching for more to do.
This summer I will actually be able to relax a bit more than in years past. I am not facing the prospect of teaching any new courses next year, so I can spend this summer enjoying my time off, rather than preparing for a new course.
What is in my plans, you ask? Well I always make plans to read in the summer. I am a member of a book club, and we meet weekly to discuss our books, enjoy time with friends, and share some good food. So reading some books I have been putting off is first on my list of things to do this summer break.
Next, I want to make a trip to Michigan Adventure this summer with my two boys. They are ages 5 and 8 and will be able to enjoy almost all of the park attractions. We could spend all day in the wave pools and splash zones, but my youngest will be tall enough to go down some of the larger water slides, so I cannot wait to splash around for the day. Then after lunch and drying off, we usually ride the other attractions, especially the roller coasters!
We have had a garden each summer, and this year I want to expand it a little more. With the rising costs of fresh vegetables, we have found having a garden is not only a labor of love, but a healthy way to have food last into the fall and winter because I will can and preserve what we do not eat.
Both of my children play baseball, so we will spend a lot of time at the ball parks this summer. My husband is a coach, so we are busy helping children learn good sportsmanship and baseball skills. I guess the teaching part of me never really goes on break, after all!
Come the end of the summer, I start to think about the new school year. Going to the local fairs, you see former students and start to think about the coming school year. I begin lesson planning for the first few weeks of school around the beginning of August. I will order some new teaching materials and work on incorporating these lessons into previous ones. It is a good time to look at what my incoming students will need, figure out how my day will run, and start getting the boys and myself back into the school routine: less sleeping in, buying new clothes and school supplies, and squeezing out as much last minute fun before the daily grind begins again in the fall.
The summer months always fly by fast. I will enjoy the warm days, cool nights, and savoring the idea that there is nothing to grade today and I can go do whatever the boys and I feel like doing. Come on June, I cannot wait for you to arrive much longer!
