Summer - Why We Need It

I am now a little over halfway through summer.  To those of you that have regular jobs, you may be wondering why teachers need summer.  I get it.  It seems that we have an awful lot of time off between Christmas break, spring break, and summer, and I will admit that the one year I didn't teach, it was jarring to be at work on Christmas Eve.  I believe, however, that if it were not for summer, my house would be falling apart.  

During the school year, teachers are focused on planning, executing plans, and grading.  Only one of those can be completed during school hours.  For those teachers who also coach or direct plays or sponsor clubs, there is even less time to complete everything we need to do.  You almost never see a teacher walk out of the school building empty-handed because they are usually taking home something to grade.  I'm single, so I can't even imagine how those teachers who have their own children at home are doing the things they need to do.  

This summer, I have finally had time to do little things like clean the bathtub (It was getting a little gross) and vacuum.  I have also had the time to read, which I wasn't doing much of during this particular school year.  I wanted my brain back, so I've been reading Tolkein, a book of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's writings, and will soon read Andy Weir's new book Project Hail Mary.  What I have really needed summer to accomplish was ripping my deck off.  There's no way I could have found time do that during the school year.  I have completed about 50 videos for use in teaching (so it's not like we don't do some school during the summer).

Those things are all physical tasks, but the real value of the summer is less visible.  Teachers put all of their emotional energy into the school year.  I don't doubt that people in every profession work hard and put a lot of themselves into it, but there are a few fields (education, psychology, medicine) in which you take on the burdens of other people.  That's a lot of load.  This year, there was more load than ever and even fewer mental resources available to carry it.  Yet, we did.  This summer has involved a lot more unloading than usual.  If we didn't take the time to step away from the daily needs of students, we would have nothing left to give next year's students.  Summer is a time of refilling so that we can start pouring out again next year.  

I am not complaining.  I don't want any other job than teaching.  I just ask that if you have a job outside of education, that you not assume teachers have it easy because of our summer.  That summer is necessary for us to accomplish what you want from us during the school year.