Every year, August flies by. It's not the shortest month of the year, but summer has a sneaky way of making it feel like it is. Before I know it, back to school commercials are tormenting me and school nightmares begin. Of course, I wouldn't be a teacher if most of me didn't love it. But I especially love July and August too. I suppose it's so hard to go back because I do not look forward to grading 150 of every assignment, eating breakfast before the sun comes up, or having to hold my pee indefinitely. This is also the first summer that I have not had a vacation. My days have consisted of graduate work, trainings, unpacking boxes, napping, watching TV, shopping, and not as much reading as I had hoped. Thrilling I know. My "to do" list is still quite long, and it is only about to get longer. One would think that there can't be THAT much to do as I'm heading into my 8th year of teaching...and one would be wrong. I have a 3 page list to prove it.
It would probably be easier to go back to work if I didn't feel so unappreciated after last year. And there were so many times I felt that "the system" was making teaching harder than it needs to be. But ... I do like my job. Most of the time. I love it when I'm in the middle of a lesson and everything just seems to come together. I love seeing students "get it" and actually be excited about an assignment. I love using technology and planning new units to get kids interested in learning. Oh, and school supplies, I'm a total nerd about new school supplies and bulletin boards. I love decorating my classroom, even though it is time-consuming and tiring.
But, I have decided that July is my favorite month of the year, even though this year it was unbearably hot and humid. In fact, it is simply my favorite month because of this metaphor: July is a really long weekend. The entire month is like a Saturday morning where you wake up and feel like you have plenty of time to relax or get done what you need to. So, July is an whole month where teachers feel like the summer might possibly never end.But August has become my least favorite month. It is like a Sunday evening where you feel bummed that the next day you have to go back to work and go back to the daily grind. I imagine that for all teachers, August is like one big long Sunday...and I wish there were some way to change that.
