When I first started teaching I came into contact with a joking t-shirt suggesting, “the three major reasons to become a teacher: June, July, and August.”

Despite its inaccuracy in New York City (the school year continues until late June), I found fault in its logic on multiple other levels: as I began my teaching career over five years ago I would spend much of my summer mentally preparing to work with another group of students. Moreover, I would constantly be processing the lessons and interactions I had had the previous year in the classroom. The teacher’s summer may be one of flexibility, but it is by no means one without rigor and thought.

Teaching can be quite draining - both physically and emotionally. As an employee of the NYC Department of Education I made the conscious choice to work in a school with more Special Education students than average and with a wide variation in income levels, leaning towards the lower end of the spectrum. These challenges are the ones that require the most work and therefore - I believe - deserve the most motivated teachers. That being said, it can also push one's supply of compassion to its limit and reduce the motivation to work quite a bit.

After a full 10 months with over 150 students to take care of I use part of my summer to simply relax and not need to constantly think about other people’s desires over my own. That part - commonly known as “vacation” is one that I do look forward to in order to “recharge my batteries” so I can dive in again at the beginning of the new school year.

Most of my summer, however, is spent discussing my job, my students, and my plans for the next year. Whenever I catch up with a friend while traveling, I am inevitably recounting some story of a lesson or a student that helps me analyze the work I’ve done and make sure to improve for the future. The conversation usually spirals into that friend suggesting tips or connecting me with other resources I could use to make things better upon my return.

Many weeks of the summer I actually spend working a few hours a day on lesson plans, preparing documents, writing grants, reading studies I do not have time to read during the year, etc. For me, the bulk of the summer is spent retracing my steps in order to learn from them and making decisions on how to proceed for the future. Without this time I would find myself constantly in a state of "catch-up" during the school year, unable to predict and plan for the coming weeks or months.

In short, a teacher's summer is not the time off the media might make people believe; it is a time of reflection and resolution to make the upcoming year even better.

Reading can seem like a daunting task to a student when they are given a book to read instead of asked to read any book they would like. I recently read a book entitled The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, who advocates reading nonstop in her elementary school classroom. Some would argue she goes too far by demanding 30-45 minutes of in-class reading time every day and others would say she is not doing enough. In either case, one of the things she allows is for students to choose books of their own, eventually leading to her recommending some for them to read. This trust that develops between teacher and students comes from the teacher understanding the needs and desires of the child and working with him or her to develop good reading habits.

A program in New York City was designed to combat summer reading loss by providing iPads pre-loaded with all kinds of books and a weekly meetup to discuss some of the books with a teacher. Called SummerSail, it was offered by a company called LightSail that specializes in providing digital books for classrooms.

What I find most interesting about the article and the program is that the critique that Donalyn Miller had about mandating books to read is still there, just with more selection. One of the students was quoted:

Perhaps a cheaper option than a $400 iPad with a bunch of books would be something like a $70 Kindle and a gift card for $300 to the Amazon bookstore so students could download and read whatever they want. 

Last Tuesday I received an exciting email from the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) announcing the expanding of the Teacher's Choice program from last year's minimal contribution of $56 to a much larger amount of $122. This program allows teachers (like me) to spend up the designated amount on school supplies and not have to spend from our own pockets. This is only about 20% of what the average teacher spends in a regular school year ($513 based on this Forbes article) but it definitely helps.

What is interesting is that this program at one point provided $220 for an individual teacher to spend on school supplies. In 2011 the city budget was amended and cut the program entirely. It is lucky that over the past few years the program has inched forward again to support teachers across the city. 

When I talk to friends about having to purchase paper each year (and waiting for Staples to provide a bonus deal that they usually do in August/September) they give me wide eyes, explaining that their office supply manager just restocks paper when it is used in the copy room. I wish this were the case in schools across New York City. Instead, we worry about nit-picking every purchase to maximize their utility. My school is lucky to have some annual grants we receive and donations from connected companies/organizations, but most schools do not have this and need the support.

I hope this year to learn more about budget constraints and to be able to advocate for better money use.