Summer Vacation

I honestly think the term "summer vacation" is a complete misnomer.  Once you reach the age of 16, summer is really no longer a vacation.  If you are an academic student you are starting to take AP/IB classes and more than likely that requires some sort of summer work to prepare.  About this age students are also getting jobs and trying to earn money so the need to ask parents becomes moot.  If you are a teacher "summer vacation" merely means: a ton of work to do with no students around to harass and distract.

I find myself attending to two week long trainings, analyzing/annotating/building curriculum for seven new novels, and adjusting/editing all hangouts and guidelines.  When I became a teacher I never really thought about all the work involved outside of the classroom.  I never realized the number of meetings teachers attend, or the plethora of extra duties piled on by administration because you know teaching 180 teenagers that know more than you and think your an idiot is not enough work by itself.

I have grown to truly love my time in the classroom.  I think what I love more is the summer work though.  I love reading novels and building assignments that will help students grow and analyze the world.  If somebody would pay to stay home and build curriculum all day- I totally would.  It would be like a dream come true.

I love doing this work so much, but trust me there is nothing "vacation" about any step of the process.

Summer Vacation: n. just another lie people are told to manipulate them into becoming teachers before the truth is actually revealed.