Reflective Teaching Challenge: Day 27

Day 27:  What role do weekends and holidays play in your teaching?

I was just talking with a teacher friend about her summer plans to visit Vancouver, BC for the Women's World Cup.  She seemed a teensy bit embarrassed that, in the middle of September, in the first month of the school year, she's making plans for next summer.

I say, go for it! 

I think breaks are necessary for engaged teaching!  I think travel is so needed to recharge our minds, spirits and the informational well from which we draw daily in our profession. Teachers are molding citizens of the world and we must be part of that world.  Time to pause, reflect and plan only increases our excitement and preparedness for instruction.

So, for me, weekends and holidays are sometimes great for getting a huge unit of planning done all at once, a major classroom redecoration, or serious mid- or end of quarter grading catch up.  But more often than not, weekends and holidays are opportunities for me to connect with friends and family, read, travel and recharge.  The week (or school year) ahead will be upon us soon enough.  A few moments or hours of relaxation are always needed for this special educator.