The Rabbit Hole

On: Teachers and Summer Break

Hello teachers! I hope you have been enjoying your summer so far. 

Summer…. It goes by so darned fast. No matter what you tell yourself about taking the time off from the school year to relax and recover, the next year is always nagging at you. It is just not easy to shut off the teacher’s brain. I used to promise myself that I would take July “off” and that I would get back to planning in August. (We got out in June and returned to school at the end of August. Your schedule might be shifted a bit, but the idea is the same.) Ha! No matter what I did, ideas just kept coming and it made it impossible to let it go. 

Heaven forbid I try to look up one little thing online based on something I heard, or an idea that I had. And that my friends is what this blog is about. The proverbial rabbit hole. I am not sure where this saying came from, but when I think of it, I envision Alice in Wonderland falling down the huge rabbit hole and finding herself in a whole new world. That is exactly what happens when teachers fall in.

If you are a teacher, you know exactly what I am talking about. Think about the last time you wanted to develop a new and fresh theme for your classroom. Yep, Pinterest, School Specialty, Facebook… Since you didn’t have an idea to begin with, you found yourself with all sorts of new ideas. One idea led to another. There were all the decorations, organizational containers, color schemes, trinkets for the kids, bulletin board ideas, pencil holders, teacher desk stuff. You get the gist. 

And that is just the beginning. Your teacher’s brain has officially been engaged. Does the theme you like match what you are going to be teaching in the coming year? What are you teaching next year? Of course, you know mostly what you are teaching, but have you picked out the student reading books? Can you combine the book with literacy and social studies? How can they be integrated into your science curriculum? Just when you think you have managed to pull yourself out of one rabbit hole, you find yourself in a whole new one! 

But you promised yourself you would not do any of this! Well, it sucks to be you because your brain has been triggered now and there is no turning back. The problem is that there is so much out there. Quite frankly, it is challenging to sort through. Especially since many schools no longer provide a strict curriculum plan. Those rabbit holes are everywhere. So, here is one piece of advice for you. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to implement the same curriculum every year, but you don’t have to make more work for yourself than necessary either. Try tweaking what you already know works. Can you change up the reading books? Can you include a STEAM challenge that suits the topic? Are there some things you thought about last year, but it was too late to implement? 

Don’t beat yourself up because you are unable to relax and clear your head of school. Just take a minute before you head towards the hole, to decide on exactly what you need in order to ease your mind. Do your darndest to stay on track. Maybe even set a timer. Then, if you are able to check that nagging item off your list, you can go forth and actually enjoy some time at the beach or take a walk through the woods.

The new school year will come fast enough. If you are one of those rare individuals that can turn off your brain all summer- more power to you! If you are not, just watch where you wander so you can avoid those Rabbit Holes!