Teachers: I Know What You Did Last Summer. And Yes, It's Scary!

REAL TALK FROM REAL TEACHERS

• “For me, it’s weird. You’d think the first week of summer I’d be all excited and energetic. Nope, I get anxious and feel super alone… I go from having a ton of stuff to do to having nothing. It’s like some weird kind of withdrawal a drug addict might experience.”

• “I know a lot of my teacher friends travel and whatnot. But I’m like a reverse bear. I hibernate during the summer. Just let me watch my shows and read my books in peace. Thanks.”

• “When you really break it down, it’s not that much time. My summer looks something like this: 2 weeks of the ‘honey-do’ list, 2 weeks of planning, 2 weeks of me time, 2 weeks traveling, 2 weeks band camp. The end.”

• “June is always fun. I make sure to relax and reboot in the first 30 days. After July 4th, I’m already thinking ‘Oh shit, school starts soon!”

THE MYTH and THE TRUTH

What people say to teachers versus the reality.

1. Quit your bitchin! Teachers get 3 months off!

   Wrong! According to WeAreTeachers, 62% of teachers have a summer break of 9 weeks or less (see chart below). Let’s do the math here… multiply the 9, carry the 1, round the decimal… it turns out that 9 weeks is closer to 2 months than 3 months. Check your math people!

   

2. Teachers get SO much time to relax in the summer.

   Nope! According to WeAreTeachers, 50% of teachers work a 2nd job in the summer. Pew Research has the number closer to 1 in 6 teachers, which would still be 3 times higher than the average for professionals in other careers. Yes, we relax in the summer, but we’re also trying to put food on the table and pay off our Toyota Corollas!

3. Okay fine, some teachers work over the summer, but they get paid for that. So quit complaining!

   Wrong again! According to Study.com, teachers say they spend about 25% of their summer completing unpaid work, including planning for the upcoming school year and other professional development (see pie chart below). There’s plenty of things we do that we don’t get paid for.

4. At a minimum, the parents get extra time with their kids, which is relaxing and fun!

   This one will make the parents laugh. In an article titled Why Parents Dread This Time of Year The Most, Talker Research, conducted a survey of 2,000 parents asking them about their feelings regarding summer break. They found that 34% of parents feel anxious or stressed about having their kids around the house 24/7. A similar percentage (33%) feel as though they won’t have enough time for themselves. What’s worse is that parents say this period of stress begins a month before summer even starts! And, on average, parents say they only start to relax 25 days after summer begins. Wow!

For this week’s “homework” assignment, we’re asking you to look back and reflect on your summer.

THE GOAL: Realize that, despite the challenges and quickness of summer, you did some incredible and enjoyable things!

1) Reflect on your summer.

Write out a list of things you accomplished. List the many projects and chores you did, but also write out the fun events you experienced and the friends and family you spent time with. Stop writing once your hand starts hurting.

2) Review the list and circle all of the things that you’re happy to have completed (even if it was challenging).

For example, retiling that bathroom was a pain in the ass, but look how good it looks now! 

3) Underline anything on the list that you are grateful for.

Underline it twice if you are SUPER grateful.

4) Highlight anything that brought you joy.

If you think hard enough, there were probably many things!

5) Finally, review your all your circled, underlined, and highlighted items (some might have all 3!).

Reminisce about these things and appreciate them. Realize that your summer was actually pretty damn fulfilling.

Not buying this activity? Check out what the science says:

• Accomplishment writing has been proven to be extremely effective in increasing fulfillment! In a study by York University (Mongrain & Sergeant), 466 adults spent 10 minutes listing daily accomplishments. Afterward, participants showed increased optimism, self-worth, and happiness, with reduced stress. You should try this with your students! Especially if they’re bummed about summer ending too… which we know they are!

• Generally, we accomplish a lot more than we think. In fact, research suggests that the reason summer goes by so fast is that you’re actually having FUN. Yes, science has proven that time flies when you’re having fun! Another reason we know this is true is by recognizing how slowly time passes when we’re doing something miserable, like getting a root canal or grading the 100th paper of the night. So, instead of being upset about your fast summer, pop open a bottle of champagne and celebrate!