As teachers in Australia settle into the third week of their summer holidays, all of them will be treating the break differently. While some will have completely left the classroom behind, others will be reading this article while planning for 2021.
So, what type of ‘Holiday Teacher’ are you?
I Want to Break Free
You were counting down the seconds on the last day of school, in fact you were visibly angry as those farewell speeches at the school Christmas lunch went on a little long. Your car was half packed ready to make your way to your caravan at the beach. You make sure you don’t promise to catch up with anyone over the break and you will not reply to any ‘WhatsApp’ group message from colleagues. Your laptop stays shut and apart from small teacher chat on Christmas day with your Grandma, school could not be further away from your mind.
Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit
You have your holidays all sorted. You will take the first few weeks to unwind and relax, but with about 2 weeks before going back (3 days if it’s a term break) you have taken books home to do some planning. However, all your good intentions get swept away in late night Netflix, coffee catch ups and a small home project. You spend the first week back at school attempting to catch up and promise to yourself that you will do some planning next holidays.
I can’t get you out of my head
Whether you are doing some Christmas shopping or sitting by the pool, work is not too far from your mind. You pick up cheap props as teaching aids in the boxing days sales at Kmart and spend days thinking about how you can incorporate the Michael Moore documentary you watched into your term 1 Curriculum (too bad you teach Maths). You email yourself a few reminders for the first day back and you spend one night reading your term 1 lesson plans.
Taking’ Care of Business
A week before the end of term you walk around asking all the key people when you can come into work without setting the alarms off. You find out the office is open for 3 more days after staff break up and that one of the maintenance guys will be coming in a week before the official opening. You do 5 half days at work and lots of planning sessions in front of the TV at night. When your sisters new boyfriend rolls out the old line ‘wow, a teacher, you must love the holidays’ you can legitimately say, ‘I only get 4 weeks a year like everyone else’.
Whichever holiday teacher you are, I hope you can take some time to reflect, rejuvenate and recharge.
