Everyone loves a teacher during the school year. People see them hard at work, classes full of children and arms full of prep work and marking. Yes, teachers are diligent and hardworking, they think to themselves. "I don't know how you do it," they say.
Enter summer. Suddenly, teachers aren't so beloved. People don't appreciate the Facebook posts about how much sun a teacher got Wednesday afternoon, or how much teachers seem to looove sleeping in. Suddenly, it becomes, "must be nice to be a teacher", and "I can't believe you get paid in the summer!" and "what an easy job! How much do teachers make again?"
Now to be fair, (and I've said this before) many teachers don't technically get paid for the summer - they are on a ten month contract, simply split over 12 months. And many do, indeed, put in an amazing number of hours of unpaid overtime due to that constant prepping and marking required of them (especially, I venture to say, English teachers). And teachers do prep during the summer too. Keep in mind also,that teachers, for the most part, can't take holidays off-season - they are limited to school-sanctioned holidays like Christmas, spring break, and summer. No February trip to Cancun for us!
That said, truthfully, the extended holiday time is a very nice teacher perk. Who wouldn't want two months off every summer? And this summer has been absolutely full of family time - bike rides and walks to the park and ice-cream dates and swimming and sun. Still to come are parties and camping and a road trip to the States. And, of course, more bike rides and parks and swimming and sun.
It makes me thankful for this concentrated time to just - breathe. To enjoy my family and this time together. Soon enough, I'll be prepping for next year. For now, though, I plan to stay up late, wake up later, and make memories with my husband and children. It is nice to be a teacher.
