Last Day of School

Today was our last day of school this year.  I read the best description of a teacher's day at work the other day, teaching is like running on a treadmill at too fast a speed for 8 hours straight.  That is exactly how it feels.  The moment that last student walks out the door, the treadmill suddenly stops and you are left slightly in awe and shock that it suddenly ended.  It resembles the feeling you get at the end of a roller coaster when it suddenly stops and you think, "Is that all?"  You enjoyed the thrill so you get right back in line.  Teachers don't have to think about getting in line.  They know the ride will begin again in a few months.

It is true, for a couple of months we do not need to go to our classroom, instruct students, grade papers and manage little bodies that don't want to be managed.  The first thing a teacher does when the final day comes is to put the classroom back together, put the papers away that got neglected for the past 6 months.  The next thing that happens is the teacher breathes.  He or she breathes for the first time in 9 months.  The teacher begins to think about something other than the individual students with their individual needs.  The teacher may find hobbies that she has been neglecting or she may simply sleep.

The next thing teachers do is to begin thinking about the next year.  She begins planning.  Some of these plans are written down, some are stored in her head as she imagines the lessons and the activities that the next group of students is going to do.  Please don't think that teachers don't work in the summer.  They need to recuperate from the running then they begin the job anew.  Driving to the office does not equate to working.

If I've ever taught your student or ever do in the future, I give them all of myself and all of my energy and then I will need a few months to prepare to do it again.