The 10 Stages of Teacher Summer Break [episode 134]

Emily  0:37

Hey there, thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re taking a walk through the 10 stages of summer break for teachers and sharing a teacher approved tip for enriching your summer experiences.

Heidi  0:50

We start our episodes with the morning message just like we used to do it morning meeting in our classrooms. This week’s morning message is if you could plan a field trip for your students anywhere and money was no object, where would you go? And what would you do? Emily, what would be your dream field trip?

Emily  1:06

Well, I don’t know what other things are no object here. But is Hogwarts a possibility? Because I think that’s where if we’re saying anything’s a possibility, that would be my choice. There you go. How about you, Heidi?

Heidi  1:20

Well, I’m thinking if money’s no object, I’m gonna hire like a crew of nannies to take the children on the field trip for me, so I don’t have to go. I don’t care where are they go as like to go with them.

Emily  1:33

I like that. One of my friends was like, oh, did you go on the field trip with the class of the day? I was like, no. And she was like, Oh, really? And I was like, Yeah, I don’t do field trips anymore. It’s like, I have done my part. No more. I hate them.

Emily  1:50

We had some fun responses from our Facebook community. Katie said Washington DC. That was my favorite trip as a kid.

Heidi  1:57

That would be cool. And especially where we live so far from Washington, DC. That would be amazing.

Emily  2:02

Samantha said I would want to go digging for minerals in the Nevada hills.

Heidi  2:07

The is ambitious. And we’re much closer to doing that.

Emily  2:10

Yes. Kirk wants to take his students to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. He says the experience stays with a person forever. And I’ve been there Heidi Have you been there?

Heidi  2:23

Yeah, I’ve been there and it really does make an impression.

Emily  2:25

Yes. Holly is a good sport and wants to spend the night at the aquarium or Zoo. Oh, dear. That would be very memorable for the kids. Sonia has a very fun unless she says Epcot or the Sydney aquarium or the Taronga Zoo. Those aren’t very fun. Gillian is ambitious. She wants to take her kids to Europe and tour many of their historical sites. We’d love to have you join the conversation over in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily  2:53

We are two weeks into June which means if you’re not already enjoying the Paradise, that is summer vacation, you’re close to it.

Heidi  3:00

Unless you teach year round of course.

Emily  3:02

Or live in the other hemisphere. So if it’s not summer break for you right now you have our condolences.

Heidi  3:10

But for the rest of us traditionalists, we are in the high watermark of the year. Those blissful early days of summer.

Emily  3:19

Curriculum map? What’s that? Faculty meetings never heard of her.

Heidi  3:23

If only the whole summer was as magical as early summer. That would be such a gift. But you know, as Robert Frost wrote, Nothing Gold.

Emily  3:35

No quoting poetry on summer break.

Heidi  3:40

Fine, fine. We are in summer break. But you know, summer is a fickle beast. She comes in many forms. So today we are sharing the 10 stages of summer break as a teacher and how you can thrive in each of them.

Emily  3:53

And it was really easy for us to come up with these because we have lived through all of these stages ourselves. And I think they’ll be familiar to most of you.

Emily  4:01

So first off, we have the golden precious baby that is stage one elation.

Heidi  4:07

Oh, the bliss the giddiness turning off the alarms. Like my heart is so happy just thinking about it. tossing your teacher bag into a corner, standing in a grassy meadow and spinning in circles like you’re Maria and The Sound of Music. It’s a magical time.

Emily  4:23

It really is. Short of being acquitted of a crime I didn’t commit. I don’t know if I can imagine another scenario where joy and delight just bubble over like they do on the first day of summer break.

Heidi  4:36

And there’s nothing we can do to make this stage of summer break any better. It is perfection. No notes. Yep.

Emily  4:43

Yep, so live it up. Because it fades fast.

Heidi  4:46

Oh, protect the vibe Emily. Sorry. There’s no need to come in with reality. We are writing high.

Emily  4:54

Well, it’s okay because the second stage of summer has a good vibe of its own. This is the stage we’re calling ignorance, aka this slug life. If you have to stop and figure out what day of the week it is, you know you are happily in stage two.

Emily  5:00

Just a hint. If you are listening to this episode, the day it comes out, today is Monday.

Emily  5:15

Though, if you’re listening to this after that we can’t help you Sorry.

Heidi  5:19

It’s fine time is just a construct anyway. So what if you wear the same outfit for three days in a row, it doesn’t smell yet, so you are fine.

Emily  5:28

But let’s just do an itty bitty itty bitty check in and make sure you’re actually relaxing and not just drifting. You absolutely should be taking it easy. Just be careful that relaxing doesn’t become zoning out. Now, zoning out has its benefits. But if it’s keeping you numb, instead of helping you recover, it’s not the best way to spend your precious summer days. For too long. You don’t want to stay in this for too long.

Heidi  5:54

There are four types of summer recovery according to me and Emily. First we have relaxation, where you indulge in what makes you smile, laugh or feel carefree. That might be checking out while you scroll on your phone, or checking in by catching up with a good friend.

Emily  6:11

But besides relaxation, you might need to refresh or connect with the activities that make you feel like yourself. Maybe that’s gardening or cooking or learning a new skill.

Heidi  6:20

You might also want to make time to refocus. This is where you rediscover the things that keep you grounded. That could be meditating or spending time in nature or with the people you love.

Emily  6:31

And the last type of recovery is to recharge or dive into the activities that get you excited and energized.

Heidi  6:37

If you want support and keeping your summer relaxation from turning into summer drift, we have a tool that can help. Check out the show notes for a link to our digital end of year roadmap freebie. There is a page in this that walks you through each of the types of recovery, and then helps you identify which is most beneficial for you.

Emily  6:56

And as your exhaustion hopefully starts to ebb, you probably are finding that you’re heading into the third stage of summer, which is productivity. This is Energizer Bunny mode. Watch me go look at everything I’m going to get done.

Heidi  7:12

This is where you swear, you are finally going to tackle all the projects that you didn’t have time for during the school year. I have bought 15 new resources from TPT and made three trips to Target. And I’m going to be on top of it this year baby.

Emily  7:27

And this stage is quickly followed by the fourth stage of summer, which is procrastination. Your ideal self makes big plans that your real world self just can’t quite achieve.

Heidi  7:39

Well, maybe your real world self can get it done. Just just not till tomorrow. Or maybe next week. It is summer after all. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

Emily  7:51

We’ve got so many things we want to or need to get done before school starts, but actually getting them done is tricky.

Heidi  7:58

Another page in the end of year roadmap is going to be your friend here. Use the school readiness journal sheet to set some goals for your back to school tasks, then you know exactly what needs to get done before the new year without having to sacrifice your whole summer to your to do list.

Emily  8:14

And don’t sweat it because we still got tons of time or at least some time before school starts. Okay, well, maybe not some time, but we’ve definitely got a little time.

Heidi  8:24

Wait, are you in the denial stage of summer? What happened? Did you just see your first back to school commercial?

Emily  8:31

Yes and it was for Fall clothes even though it’s 95 degrees outside? I did not like it actively avoiding any reference to school starting.

Heidi 8:40

Well, you can pretend you don’t know. But the nightmares know.

Emily  8:45

Don’t remind me. Last night I dreamed it was the first day of school. But I couldn’t figure out how to get there. And by the time I arrived, the kids had scattered and were nowhere to be found.

Heidi 8:54

Well watch out because that means that you are headed for the sixth stage of summer break regret. Are you now thinking of everything you plan to do? But did not in fact do?

Emily  9:07

Well that stings a little. I was gonna get so much done.

Heidi 9:12

Productivity guilt is a real feeling. But just because we feel it, it doesn’t mean it’s the reality of the situation. Let’s see if we can reframe this. Instead of thinking about everything you have yet to get done. Think about what you have already accomplished this summer. Relaxing is productive, you need to rest especially after a school year. What else have you accomplished this summer?

Emily  9:36

Maybe you drove a friend to the airport or restocked the snack door three times a day for your ravenous children. Maybe you read a good book or caught up on your favorite TV show or a puzzle. Just because you’re not doing school related tasks doesn’t mean you’re not being productive. Those are all worthwhile ways to fill your time. And any way everything is fine because I bet you’ve got the perfect plan for what you’re going to do next, right?

Heidi  10:02

Oh, I think we’re into stage seven bargaining. If you are intensely focused on what you or others should do differently, you are definitely in the bargaining stage. At this point of summer break, it is easy for regret to morph into, I’m going to be better energy. I’m doing things differently. this year. I am going to pack all of my lunches on Sundays. And my team is going to collaborate every week, and I am going to keep up to date on my grading.

Emily  10:32

The problem with bargaining is that it’s putting your energy in the wrong places, your focus is scattered into all the things you want to fix. Like you’re plugging leaks in a roof. But every time you get one covered, a new leak appears.

Heidi  10:44

If your roof is leaking that much, the leaks aren’t the problem. The roof is the problem. It’s so easy to fixate on what feels urgent that we ignore what’s important.

Emily  10:54

So turning back to our end of year roadmap resource, we have a page for your to do list. Brain dumping every single task that stands between you and the first day of school can be a huge relief, but the tasks aren’t what really matters.

Heidi  11:08

Right. Let’s not focus on the leaks. Let’s focus on the roof. At the top of the to do list is a journal box that asks, My goal for back to school season is to feel blank. Your answer to this question will help you determine what matters most. This is your big picture.

Emily  11:27

Or in this analogy, it’s your roof. The next question on the to do list will help you identify what you need to do to keep the roof from leaking. In order to feel that way I need to prioritize blank.

Heidi  11:39

For most of my back to school seasons, I thought my goal was just to be done. I had my massive list and I needed to just check off everything I could before I ran out of time. Kind of like a race to the finish line. My July and August would have been way less stressful if I had stopped to reflect for a second and realize that my goal wasn’t to be done. It was to feel ready.

Heidi  12:05

And like thinking about it, I just kind of want to cry for my poor little tired teacher self, who was doing so much but doing it all backward. The things that would have helped me feel most ready like setting up my room, preparing for the open house and planning the first day were my very last priority. Instead, I was more focused on finishing my big projects like planning a year’s worth of writing lessons or preparing math centers.

Heidi  12:30

Our sweet custodian, Marla worried about me every year because school is about to start and my desks were still stacked in the back of the room. She’d poke her headed and just kind of leave with a puzzled look be like, what do you get to do and I would just shrug and tell her that it was gonna get done one way or another.

Emily  12:48

So overhauling your writing curriculum and preparing your math centers were all good goals. But you ended up sacrificing what was essential to feeling ready for what was optional to feeling ready. It created a perfect storm of stress and exhaustion and overwhelm.

Heidi  13:05

And that is how we end up in the eighth stage of summer break, which is where we panic. This is the point where we toss out our perfect to do lists. And we scrambled to complete whatever is most urgent.

Emily  13:18

The feeling that there just aren’t enough minutes in the day has a name. It’s called time anxiety. That might lead to the sense of urgency where it feels like you have to do everything all at once. You’re more likely to snap at people and the only thing you can focus on is the enormity of everything in front of you and how stressed out you feel.

Heidi 13:36

Okay, truth telling time, put your hand up if you have ever felt that way.

Emily  13:40

I feel like I’m feeling that way right now just thinking about it.

Heidi  13:44

Both hands up. So what happens when we hit the panic stage of summer break? We are going to name it to tame it.

Emily  13:52

You know advice is valid if it rhymes.

Heidi  13:55

Rhyming makes everything better. Except this next part doesn’t rhyme but it’s still good advice. So when you’ve got that tension headache and your heart is racing, name what you’re feeling. Tell yourself you’re feeling anxious and that it’s totally normal.

Emily  14:10

Then pause for some deep breathing. Breathing is key to stopping your nervous systems overreaction to stress. Close your eyes if you can and take slow deep breaths. When you feel anxious your amygdala the part of your brain that controls your fight or flight response is in overdrive telling your body you’re not safe. Pausing to breathe allows your prefrontal cortex to take over and make some rational choices. I sounded really smart, didn’t I?

Heidi  14:37

I was really impressed with that. If you have named your feelings and taken your deep breaths, I think I need to breath now. But if you’re still feeling a little panicky, you might need a nudge to get back into the present moment. Anxiety is often tied to overwhelm about the future. But since we have yet to invent time travel, even though I have specifically asked for it, trying to fix the future is impossible, we can only control what is happening right now.

Emily  15:08

One way to do that is to stop for two or three minutes and scroll through your photos on your phone. Looking at happy memories can do wonders for our nerves. And look at all the fun things you did this summer.

Heidi  15:19

The 54321 technique is also handy. Look around and name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Connecting with what’s happening around you can help ground you in the present moment.

Emily  15:37

Hmm, I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m feeling much calmer already. I think I’m ready for the district kickoff conference. It’s a pointless waste of time when I should be in my classroom. But what can you do?

Heidi 15:49

I think you have reached stage nine acceptance.

Emily  15:52

Well grudging acceptance. Nobody will ever convince me that spending half a day listening to a motivational speaker I’m doing air quotes, right. Is the best use of time three days before my students show up. I am very motivated at this point. Thank you very much. Just let me get to my classroom to work because I got some stuff to label.

Heidi  16:13

And then once you finally get a chance to get all of the folders neatly stacked on every desk, and you see that list of names, the anticipation starts to creep in. This is it. The wonder of Christmas Eve wishing on birthday candles and Fourth of July fireworks all rolled into one.

Emily  16:32

We’ve reached the end of summer break. But we’ve saved the best for last. The thrill of excitement that comes with the start of a new year is stage number 10.

Heidi  16:41

And it is magical. Getting to put faces to the names that you have spent days looking at, getting a fresh chance to be the teacher you dream of being it’s the best. I mean, it’s absolutely exhausting. But it is absolutely wonderful too.

Emily  16:57

But we aren’t there yet. Let’s head back to stage two for some lounging around for a little while longer.

Heidi  17:05

Yes, please more lounging for everyone.

Emily  17:08

What stage of summer break are you in? We’d love to know all about it. Come join the conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily  17:17

Now let’s talk about this week’s teacher approved tip. Each week we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can apply in your classroom today. This week’s teacher approved tip is make a summer sensorium. Please explain this, Heidi.

Heidi  17:33

Sure the sensorium is our different sensory perceptions taken as a whole. Now who sounds smart Emily? Very good. So our brain takes the different inputs from each of our senses and assembles them into our perceived experience. So earlier in the episode, we mentioned that one way to tame overwhelm is to pause and notice what your senses are picking up on.

Heidi  17:56

But we can also use our senses to create our experiences. Take a minute to think of your favorite summer sight, sounds, touches, tastes and smells. And then make a plan for how you can make sure that you are including those experiences in your summer activities. You don’t want to get to the end of summer and realize you missed out on all of your favorites.

Emily  18:14

Another way to include summer sensory experiences is to plan around them. When planning a get together we often focus on food and then maybe decorations. But we’ve got three more senses we can use to really create a moment. Think about what sound you could include. Maybe you want to make a special playlist instead of just downloading a random Summer Fun playlist. Think about what smells and touches will add to the mood of your gathering.

Heidi  18:37

Summer has some great sensory opportunities, so do what you can to soak them all in.

Emily  18:44

I love that. I hope you guys will come and share what summer senses you discover this summer break.

Heidi  18:51

To wrap up the show we are sharing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?

Emily  18:56

I’m giving extra credit to the kids eyeglasses company Jonas Paul. So I have now got all three of my kids in glasses. And it can be tricky to find stylish kids glasses that aren’t super expensive. Well Jonas Paul is our absolute favorite. They’ve got cute and trendy frames for kids and teens. This feels like it’s sponsored I promise it’s not.

Heidi 19:17

I wish Jonas Paul reach out.

Emily  19:20

Yeah, seriously. My favorite thing they do is they’re try on kids so your kid can pick out the frames they want to try and see how they look and feel in person. And then they include the label to mail them back. Easy peasy. My youngest just did this last month and she was certain she knew which pair she wanted and then when she tried one she picked a totally different one. So I was really glad that we had that tray on kit.

Emily  19:43

And then I just ordered the frames that they pick out in their prescription online and it’s very smooth process and their customer service is really good. And I may be biased but I think my kids look pretty stinking cute in their Jonas Paul glasses.

Heidi  19:59

They look so cute in their glasses. I love it.

Emily  19:59

And Jonas Paul, please hit me up. What are you giving extra credit to Heidi?

Heidi  20:04

Well, this is way less cute than your kids and glasses, but I am giving extra credit to moving bags. This is something that was kind of new to me. So I was on the hunt for something to store my seasonal throw pillows in. And this came up as like the first suggestion online. I had been using garbage bags. But these moving bags are perfect.

Heidi  20:25

They’re plastic, so I don’t have to worry about things inside getting wet or dusty. They’re kind of like shaped like a rectangular prism, hello geometry. So they store really well on the shelf, unlike the garbage bags did. And when they’re empty, they store flat. They’ve got handles on the side, so they’re easy to carry around. I’ve got them on the top shelf, so I can like grab that little handle and pull it down where it’s higher than I can reach.

Heidi  20:51

And I was thinking if you’ve got a college aged kid, these might be perfect for moving them in and out of the dorm. Oh, for sure. I can just keep the bags tucked under their bed and then in the spring, you can easily get them home. Or this could be great for like storing your seasonal gear, maybe all of your pool stuff when summer’s over. And Emily, I think you use these for Christmas.

Emily  21:11

Yeah, so I do also have one of these in my garage that’s got like our Christmas pillows and throw blankets. And I think I’m going to start using for the other holiday blankets and things too. But I used it at Christmas to hide Christmas gifts in because guess what, your kids are not going to pay attention to these random moving bags in your garage, especially if you have them out there and other times of the year. So it is a great way to hide away presents.

Heidi  21:37

I think you just have to make sure that it’s not see through.

Emily  21:40

Oh, yes. Yes, for sure. Mine are like a thick blue color.

Heidi  21:44

Yeah. Because the ones I keep my pillows in or see through so I can see what’s in there. So yeah.

Emily  21:47

Don’t just be careful those ones for presents. But the the see through ones would be good for like the throws and things because then you know what’s in there.

Heidi  21:48

Yes, they’re very handy. Now I want to think of all the things I can use it with I bought a set of four, only use two. So I think I’ve got some opportunities here to organize some junk. Yeah, lots of things I can do. If you’ve got suggestions, let me know.

Emily  22:08

And we’ll link Heidi’s clear ones in the show notes and also might not clear one so you have options.

Heidi  22:15

That is it for today’s episode. Ue our suggestions for thriving in each of the stages of summer break. And don’t forget today’s tip to incorporate the senses into your summer plans.