• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

June 10, 2016 Featured

10 Things You Can Do Now that It's Summer Break

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Teresa

Teresa Cooper is a 30-something divorced mom and teacher from North Carolina. She has a Masters of Science in Education for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Creative from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Having struggled with anxiety and depression most of her life and later having birthed a child with autism, she is passionate about spreading awareness and acceptance of mental illness and autism. After 13 years in education, she has a wealth of knowledge to share on education and bonding with children.
  • PTSD in Teachers: Yes, It's Real! - August 19, 2018
  • Teacher Anxiety: How to Cope With Anxiety Under Stress - July 29, 2018
  • Depression Kills Teachers if Left Untreated: It Should Not Kill Their Careers - July 23, 2018
  • Amidst Declining Mental Health in Teachers, What Can Administrators Do? - June 30, 2018
  • 5 Things I'd Tell Myself in My Earlier Teaching Years - October 15, 2017
  • How Class Dojo Saves My Sanity Daily - October 1, 2017
  • Surviving the School Year: Game of Thrones Style - August 27, 2017
  • What to Change Behavior? Start With Class Meetings in Special Education - August 20, 2017
  • When Your Administrator Doesn't Like You - July 3, 2017
  • Conquering Teacher Biases Against Disabilities: Important Strategies - May 8, 2017

Man, being a teacher is such a sweet gig. I mean, we get out of school at three o'clock every day, have our weekends free, have super-long vacations, and we get the summer off? Okay, so maybe all of that's not true (most of that's not true), but unless you're at a year-round school, you still get a decent summer break. Now, if you waste your summer on anything other than maximizing your fun potential, you're not doing it right. Let me tell you what you should be doing during summer break!

10 Things You Can Do Now That It's Summer Break

  1. Read a Book (That You Choose) - So, I can finally finish reading some of the books that I started and then put down because I needed to catch up on curriculum updates and learn new teaching methods. While that material is super interesting, I would kind of like to finish Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes at some point!
  2. Play with Your Kids/Dogs - It doesn't sound that interesting, but the truth is that we spend a lot of our time focused on the 65 students (or more) that we teach each year and our kids (and pets) kind of get pushed aside while we try to keep our heads above water. If you don't have kids, spend some time playing with your dog or cat or snake or whatever (I have all of the above and more). If you do have kids, maybe play some games with them before you spend time on your pets.
  3. Use Your Gym Membership - Wouldn't it be nice to go to the gym and get your workout on? Or maybe you can just go for more walks. Either way, nothing is more relaxing then the rush of endorphins you get post-workout.
  4. Eat Better - We often don't have time to eat healthy foods when we're teaching because we grab whatever's convenient to put in our lunches (or whatever we can scarf down in less than 10 minutes while watching kids). It's tempting to grab a bag of chips or a candy bar. Use the summer to get back on a healthy diet. Between that and the gym membership, you'll come back in August feeling refreshed and shaped up!
  5. Watch Game of Thrones - Or, you know, whatever else you wanted to watch that required more attention than you could give while writing lesson plans.
  6. Sleep in! Unless you have kids like mine who still get up super early. Either way, you can spend your morning in  your pajamas and drink a cup of coffee that hopefully isn't cold for too long before you get to finish it.
  7. Catch up on Housework - The floor needs a good mopping, the kids' closets need to be cleaned out because they contain clothes that don't fit anymore, and the master bathroom is a mess. Sometimes a good Spring Cleaning (in the Summer) can reenergize you and make you feel better.
  8. Catch some Rays! And I'm not talking about a line that starts off in one spot and goes forever in one direction, math teachers! I'm talking about getting some sun! Just make sure to do it responsibly and put on some sun protection.
  9. Attend a Workshop - You know you need those professional development credits anyway, so you may as well find a workshop that you actually want to attend and learn about a topic that is relevant to your classroom. Just wait until it's almost time for school to begin and you've fit in everything you want to do first. That leads to the last thing you need to do before your summer ends.
  10. Go on a Nice Vacation - Seriously. Enjoy your summer. Go to the beach, go to the mountains, or have a really nice staycation, but do something fun. Randy Pausch says to "never ever underestimate the importance of having fun." Go have some. And maybe consider bringing your significant other with you. Especially if he/she listened to all of your stories about kids at school all year long.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]Here's what you SHOULD be doing during summer break, #teachers! @embracespectrum Click To Tweet

During the school year, while people may think teachers have an easy schedule, the reality is that a lot of stuff goes by the wayside in our personal lives. Take the time off and do what's important. Enjoy your summer break because you never know what the next school year holds! Keep calm and vacation on!

Summer Break[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Travel for the Teacher: Better than Professional Development Default ThumbnailThe Absent Teacher Default ThumbnailBreak The No Summer Break Cycle Teaching in a Post-Union World
« Math Disorders – More Than Dyscalculia
Mollie's Story: Not a Disability But an Ability »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. RenMan says

    June 11, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    you forgot -- #1 Use the bathroom whenever you want!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships
  • Want to Keep Special Education Teachers? Try Mentorship
  • An Idaho teen who won his school board election has a message for educators
  • Moving Beyond Diversity to Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Lessons from a Sunday Sermon

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.