If you don’t have teachers in your immediate life, you probably don’t know what we do over summer break. You may believe that we simply play like our students.
Chimananda Ngozi Adichie states, “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the ONLY story.” There’s a stereotype that teachers do nothing over summer break -- that we slack off. I have a hard time with that stereotype.
John Dewey states that we “learn from reflecting on experience.” As there isn’t time during our school year to reflect, teachers use summer break to contemplate on our experiences with kids.
Of my amazing 16 seventh-grade colleagues, one is retiring, seven are taking graduate courses, six are working part-time jobs, five are in a book club, and three are training other teachers. Rather than sitting still, we use the time to grow, to create new experiences, and to pass on knowledge to others. We live beyond the stereotype that teachers stop working once the bell rings.
Now that summer is beginning, teachers may have a break from the classroom. But we still are working. We will step back, reflect on our experiences, take courses, and learn better strategies—creating, experiencing, growing.
Sometimes, though, we’ll sit around and slack off.
Here’s my shout-out to teachers everywhere! Extra credit if you’re listening.
I’m Elsa Glover, and that’s my perspective.
