Oh dear! I just looked at the calendar. The last day of July! It won't be long now before kids are school shopping, moms are packing lunches, and teachers are welcoming kiddos back to the classroom. For teacher moms, this is a bittersweet time of year.
This is the time where we are preparing for a fresh, new start with a new group of eager learners. However, it's a sad time of year, because we are spending less time with our own children. The upside for me is that my daughter is going to kindergarten, so she's beginning her own new adventure and my boys are continuing at a daycare that they and I love.
I'm excited to begin the new school year. This year will be full of new challenges for me. I recently was transferred to a new position. I was a fifth grade science teacher for nine years. This year I will be teaching reading as one of our building's reading specialists. This new position is very different from what I've done in the past. I will be working with teachers to help struggling readers and I'll also be directly teaching readers. Another challenge that I will be facing is adjusting to the age of the learners. I was a fifth grade teacher, so I'm used to more mature, independent learners. I will now be teaching kindergarten through grade two. This will require more patience and lots of flexibility.
Being a teacher mom is both rewarding and time consuming. Unfortunately, my work doesn't end when I close the door to my classroom at the end of the school year or the end of the school day. I know, I know. Teachers only work nine months a year and get three months off. Well, not really.
My summer break is eight weeks. During those eight weeks, I have applied and interviewed for a new position within my building. Yes, I had to go through the same interview process as a new applicant. I was transferred to my new position, reading specialist. I have had to go to school to sort nine years of science teacher "stuff" (three piles, move to the new room, store at school, and store at home) and move to my new reading room. This was more like moving out of my first apartment and into a new house. I have also begun professional development to prepare for the responsibilities of my new position and reading professional books about how best to accomplish my goals. Sure, I have eight weeks of break, but it hasn't been a break. It's been a teacher learning to become a different, better teacher and moving company. All while spending my days "off" with my kiddos making summer a fun, fulfilling time. I'm just nineteen days from my first day of school. There is still a lot to do and lots to do with my kids, both fun and to prepare them for their upcoming year. So when someone tells you that teachers have summers off, well...
I'm not complaining, because I wouldn't trade this career for any other...except maybe being a talk show host, but since that is unlikely, I'll stick to what is realistic. Being a teacher and a mom are the two most rewarding things I've ever done. What else can you do to see growth, development, and enjoy the fantastic gifts that each child has?
Let me share a first grade story and a fifth grade story:
As a first year teacher and first grade teacher, I was always nervous about "losing" a student. First graders are wily breed. They are unpredictable and you have no idea what thoughts are going to carry them. One afternoon while I was teaching math, I lost a kiddo! I know! How do you lose a kid when they're in the classroom, sitting in their seats, engaged in a lesson? I cannot answer that question. I turned around to write something on the chalkboard and when I turned back around to face the class, Joe was GONE! His desk was in the center of the room and somehow in a nano second, he had disappeared into thin air! I asked if he had left the room. I thought he might have had a restroom emergency. The other kids all looked at each other shrugging. They didn't see Joe leave. I asked the girl who was sitting next to Joe where he had gone. She dipped her head very close to the carpet and looked in the direction of his desk. I went to join her. I found Joe under his desk. He had no idea how he had arrived in this place. He thought he might have fallen off of his chair. Oh the mysteries of first graders!
This past year while teaching fifth grade, I was supervising an engineering project, I approached a group of boys who were working well together. These guys are my comedians. They had a more mature sense of humor.
Me: How's everything going?
Student 1: We're doing good.
Student 2: My fish is going to have babies.
Me: How did that happen? (I say this a lot and it's sort of automatic)
Group of Students: All looking at each other snickering.
Student 1: Do you really want me to tell you?
Me: Mental forehead slap, waving hands all around. NO! NO! NO! I'm good.
Student 1: I think that's a completely difference science class, Mrs. McBryar.
Me: I don't want to talk about it anymore.
Group of Students: laughing at my embarrassment
For the rest of the day, I would hear in the distance, "How did that happen?" and then laughing.
I hope you enjoy this final month of summer break with your kids and appreciate what your kids' teachers do, because most people don't realize the work they do or the copious amounts of their own money they use to do their jobs.
