The Pull of the Classroom
Posted by Amy Erickson on 05 Jun 2009 | Posted in: Inspiration and Motivation, Life After School, Planning and Curriculum, Teachers and Teaching, The Mailbox Books
For a teacher, there’s nothing quite like the end of the school year. It’s busy, tiring, fun, gratifying; the list goes on and on. For me, it was a time of conflicting emotions. I found it hard to say goodbye to my students, but I also looked forward to having time off. I longed to spend lazy mornings at my favorite summertime destination, Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It’s such an incredibly peaceful spot! But a funny thing always happened soon after vacation started: I would start getting excited about the next school year.
Somehow or another my mind would wander to the topic of school, and I’d start thinking about revamping part of my classroom routine or trying something new for literacy or math. Once I started thinking about it, the
ideas would keep coming and the anticipation would build. It sounds crazy, I know, especially since I so looked forward to rest and relaxation in the summer. But that’s what happened, year after year. It was even harder to “turn off” the ideas during the summers before I changed teaching positions or classrooms.
How about you? In the midst of the summer, do your thoughts stray back to your classroom and next year? Or are you able to put those thoughts on hold until just before back-to-school?
Congratulations to Lynn of Dayton, Ohio. She is the winner of the Grades 4–5 Building Math Basics book in our weekly blog drawing.
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I am so glad to know I am not the only one has this excitement or passion for our jobs. I am not the only one that “rests” while making things and gathering ideas for the next group of students that will enter in September. I try to limit my “school time” during the summer to a couple of hours but enjoy my time off working at a very leisurely pace and being a bit productive at the same time. Summer is when I catch up on all friendships and establish new ones!
I always cry each year either when the buses pull out or when I finally get my room checked out and I am on my way home. It is amazing to think of all that has occurred in one school year and sad that my school family has disbanded. I miss my school kids. I wait for the school supply sales. Even my daughter is trained to stand in line buying multiple school supplies so my school kids will have what they need!
I retired June 2007 after 34 years of teaching elementary special education. During those 34 years my summer was always filled with family activities and thinking about and working towards the next school year. I was a teacherholic. School was always on my mind. There was no turning it off. I loved it and was always looking for new and different things to try and make my classroom better than before. I didn’t teach the next year but still had school thoughts and saved things for when I would teach again (even if it was just grandkids). Last year I started some part time teaching in a Christian school. This next year I am going to teach 3rd grade in that Christian school and I am so excited. I’ve been thinking and working on several ideas and can hardly wait to get back in the trenches!
I always get excited for the summer because then I can attend professional seminars geared towards reading and writing that will spark great ideas for exceptional lessons the following school year! However, I have been out of school a week and I already have a ton of ideas that I would like to do with my students for next year!
I teach third grade and have for 15 years. My teacher companions put our heads together and choose a theme for the next new year. I find myself getting excited when I find unique items that will fit with the new theme. We contact each other over the summer to check up on each other and items that have been located for the new theme. I find this very exciting and I enjoy it each year. I am always excited to get my new Mailbox magazines to see what they have to offer each year also.
This completes my second year as a teacher after being an teacher’s assistant for 16 years. I am constantly thinking of teaching. I began thinking of the next school year before this school year was over. Since I’ve started summer vacation I set aside at least 30 minutes every other day to plan, write, create or just meditate on how I will improve my class and my lessons for next year. I just can’t seem to get teaching off my mind.
This is my first year teaching and I am loving my new career. My school year ends this Tuesday and I am already thinking of next year. I have transformed my pantry into a storage area for all my supplies and I am thinking of ways to challenge my class next year. I have young children of my own so I have my own little class to test out new ideas!
Every summer while on vacation I also start to think about the new year and the things I want to do with my class. By th time school gets started I am so excited I can hardly wait.
I work on a year round school schedule. There is only a week in between one class and the next, so it is very hard to have that time to rest! With three months on and one month off, I have really had to force myself to turn off that “teacher mode!” I was just off track in May and I already started to think of the changes and adjustments I wanted to make for the new class! I think for most, teaching isn’t a job, but a way of life, so turning off the “teacher mode” can be challenging!~
My kindergarten school year ended on Thursday but it goes straight into a summer camp program with all of my children in addition to some older kids. Even though we had graduation I will not have to say goodbye to my children for a few more months. I’m going to try and spend the rest of this month focusing on Summer Camp and then it will be back to Kindergarten although mid year I started making a list of changes I will be making this coming year.
this is the first blog where i have read so many comments!`pre school isn’t done till the end of the month but i am already thinking about what i could change for next year.teaching in a european country ,english isn’t always the child’s first language so all that affects how i will set things up.i am also waiting for a new helper ,which will also play a role on how i will cover things…and yes i am already planning.the first thing on the agenda is to clean out my closet both at school and home. re organizing always gives me a fresh start!
Your blog sounds just like me. I am already thinking about schedules and how we can do it better. I love resting, but I also love the time to create and put ideas into motion.
I just finished sketching my classroom and all of the changes I will be making! I can’t wait to revamp my room and implement all of the new ideas I’ve learned from various workshops this summer. I am also co-hosting a teacher craft party this summer for all of my teaching friends. We are going to discuss and create lots of things for our rooms next year.
I have been out of school since the end of May. I began thinking of next year’s class before the year ended! Isn’t it funny how God fills us up with this passion for teaching? I have already been looking at ways to help my students with phonics and reading. I taught 2nd grade, and I hope to still have that grade next year too. I am planning to have a summer outing with the girls from my class because we had such a wonderful year!!!
I am a family child care provider so I work year round, but I love the summer with the break from my own college classes and other routines.
This past Thursday was our last day of school, although my preschool classes ended last week. I have been teaching preschool for 3 years and have absolutely LOVED it, but I am being moved to kindergarten for next year. I am very ambiguous about the move since I really enjoyed preschool, but I know kindergarten will be just as much fun. I am really thinking about how the transition will be and the things I will be teaching next year. There is a LOT of preparation! So, even though I have really looked forward to this summer break, kindergarten will be on my mind for most of the time. I want to be ready!
I have the new teacher summertime butterflies. I can’t wait to get into my room and throw all my ideas into place!
School just ended yesterday and I already miss my class. They were a very special group this year.
I am looking forward to spending a relaxing two week vacation with my husband and children at the beach along with taking some time for myself just to re-energize. After we get back home I will be excited to start preparing for next year.
I’m also signed up to take two summer workshops at our local University. I like keeping updated with whats new in education. It’s less stressful to take workshops etc in the summer.
I am in the 8 day count down and should be doing final report cards but what am I doing? Surfing the net and looking forward to a new school year. I have to get out of teacher mode when I am in public and resist the urge to tell children to “stop running” through the store or amusement parks! LOL! My husband is “well trained” and saves things at his office that he knows we could use in my 2nd grade classroom. It is part of my daily life being a teacher and I am always amazed that I can’t really flip that switch off. I can honestly say that maternity leave and a new baby was the only time in my life where that switch seemed to be almost completely off. I think it is your blood you are either a “Teacherholic” or you aren’t. I have 19 years in and joke about retiring but I can’t imagine that!
I find that the teacher mode never ends.
I enjoy the time off for the summer, but I’m always looking for new ideas for the coming year. This website is marked as a favorite and check it daily for items to buy and use. I just finished reading some books and am preparing for next years class. I love teaching!
Hello,
I am always missing my students, their characters, and their contribution to keeping my mind awake as I am in the summer holiday. So I always am eager to come up to the openning of classes again.
I know exactly what you mean! I also find it hard to say good-bye to students but long for the break and rest. I too find myself looking through teacher books and the ideas just flow into my head shortly after summer vacation begins. No matter how hard I try to take that much needed break, I always find myself thinking about school and the year ahead. I am changing schools for the next year and the wheels have be whirling in my head for how to arrange my new room.
I take a couple of weeks to relax and recuperate … take in a couple movies. Then, depending on my grade level assignment for the following year, I might start getting ready for the following year. I am changing grade levels this year (A 3rd/4th grade combo - which I could use suggestions on how to teach 2 grade levels/state standards/adoptions at the same time???) plus AZ changed the Math Standards, so I am starting to prepare already. It’s hard to wait until the last minute and then try to do all this preparation with the very little time we are given in the week before school starts.
How lucky of so many of you to be enjoying your summer break already! Here in British Columbia, Canad(yes, where next year’s Winter Olympics will be held!!) We are in session until June 26th. After 33+ years of teaching, I find even on vacation I am always on the look out for new ideas. I teach Gr. 5,6,7 French( and Primary PE and jobshare a Gr. 5/6 class—I wear many hats!!) so usually try to go to a refresher conversation or immersion camp for a few days or a week close to the end of the summer.
I usually am ok until the Fourth of July. We start our inservices about a week to a week and a half after the holidays so I know my time is drawing near. I also look at the mailbox companion as soon at it comes on line.
Today is my start of summer break. I have already been looking for ideas for next year. I love summer and can’t wait to relax but in the back of my mind is school. When I am out shopping or at garage sales I am always looking for my classroom. On the other hand, I also have already started my mystery novel!:)
Hi:
I have been retired for three years but re-entering teaching. I will be teaching first grade this year. Even though I have plenty of time, I am already anxious and impatient. I keep thinking of ideas and how I want my room and door to look to welcome students. I am excited with anticipation; but also, having been a substitute these past three years, I can hardly wait as I love to teach. What a ministry and an opportunity to make a difference in others’ lives.
I have been teaching preschool for the past seven years and I look forward to getting the magazine and putting this idea into actions along with my creative
I have just finished my Elementary Education degree k-6th. I have already started collecting things for my classroom one day. There are not many teaching jobs available at this time. All I think about is how am I going to do my classroom and will I be a good teacher. It’s soooo exciting!
I’ve only been on summer break a couple of weeks, but here I am - looking at preschool-related websites and buying curriculum books to get inspired for next year’s program. It’s great to have time off, but I’m already excited about next year.
I always spend the first half of the summer reading the latest novels that somehow eluded me during the school year. Then after fulfilling my hunger to read a few of those…I end up reading the latest professional research. I decide if I want to try it out this next year. There is no way to contain my brain! The next school year is the only thing I can think about!