Get Up Offa That Thing (Summer-Shaming)
July is the month that teachers get to be teachers without students.
I’ve now been to five cities over the course of the last month, and saw nothing but teachers working on developing themselves as professionals and people. What’s missing in the debate over extended time in schools and summers in American schools is the lack of time teachers get to spend not worrying about the students in their care. Building time into the school week is one thing, having independent time a whole nother. During the school year, meeting with teachers helps because we can address immediate needs and concerns, make adjustments, and decompress for a second before we have to get back on the train that is the school year.
Summer, by sharp contrast, allows us to take a time out from bells, alarms, phone calls, and the hundreds of other internal and external interruptions we face as teachers and get down to business as adults. This summer, I’ve seen teachers still keep students in mind, but talk about long-term curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, teacher leadership, and all the great stuff that gets piled on our shoulders while we’re still trying to manage our class load.
Maybe we need to rethink the idea of “summers off” as a summer to unpack and refuel.
The United States already eclipses the rest of the world in time in front of students. We ought to Get Up Offa That Thing (Summer-Shaming) | The Jose Vilson: