Wow! It’s been a while since I last posted on this highly rated blog site! Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone and you all had a great Fourth of July. This blog post on the Spitball is going to focus on summer break for teachers, and what it’s like for us. Now, there’s the old saying that the three reasons some people go into teaching is because of June, July and August. Well, I can’t speak for all teachers, but this is a pretty nice perk, and was up on the list for the reason for me to go into this career. Have three months off of work?! Sign me up!
I also understand the vitriol that comes with this from other people. My friends in particular love to deride me on this issue. The only way to come back at them is to own up to it, and not justify why we deserve summer break (which we do!), it’s a losing battle! In my book in chapter 16 in Memoirs of a Mediocre Teacher, I go on to explain how I used to send a yearly email to all of my friends with a schedule of events that were to be completed on the first day of summer, and to be repeated throughout. This included waking up, getting out of bed, making and eating breakfast, watching TV, having lunch, taking a nap, etc. This did not sit well with any of my friends at all. I would receive hate mail throughout the summer. Most noticeably, they would send me pictures at the first sign of Target setting up their Back to School section. Target, by the way, is getting out of hand with how early they’re setting this up. I was in my Target on the last week in JUNE and they already had the isles and signage up! Man, can’t we have a little more than a month not to see anything about school??
But it is not like we just sit around and do nothing all summer. Teachers approach summers differently from each other. First, there are the teachers that do have other part-time jobs. I fall into this category. For me, I work for our local MLB ballclub, the Minnesota Twins. I figured I wanted to do something I thought would be fun for myself. I liked baseball, so why not work for the Twins? This was a great find for me. The hours are flexible and I work with a great staff in which there are a number of other educators who also work for the club. Plus, getting to watch the team after a shift as an added bonus. Now, if they would just stop striking out so much!
Other teachers in this category also pick up hobbies they can turn into a business venture. We have teachers that are highly successful in photography, selling arts and crafts, running their own lawn care business, creating their own podcasts, or in my case, doing some writing. Although, I wouldn’t quite say I’ve been killing it on the business side of it.
Some teachers stick to doing what they know best when it comes to their summer employment, and that is continuing teaching and coaching. Every district has a summer school program where teachers pick up another month of teaching. Other teachers keep right on coaching for softball, baseball, lacrosse, and then football towards the end of summer. Big thanks to these teachers! I sometimes think about teaching summer school or doing some tutoring. It would help pay off fixing up the house or putting that money towards a trip, but man, when summer hits for me, I’m done with students for the time being. I selfishly need some me time!
The last set of summertime options for teachers are being at home taking care of their young family. Economically, this makes total sense as the mammoth expense of child day care is not necessary during the summer. Plus, being able to bond with your children on a full-time basis for even three months during the summer is beneficial in family development.
So, there it is. Will reading this help my fellow friends develop some form of understanding that most of us aren’t totally stagnant during the summer? Probably not. Even having to decline to play a round of golf with some friends this afternoon because I have to work at the ball field, the playful resentment will continue. I am totally fine with it. And as if on cue, I just got a picture text of that damn Target Back to School display from a friend. Oh, the tribulations we go through.