The 3? R’s of a Teacher’s Summer
Ah, another school year coming to a close.
I know you all can’t wait for summer.
Time to rest, recharge, and reset for the next school year only a short three months away.
That’s what I call the 3 R’s of Summer: REST, RECHARGE and RESET.
REST – let your body rest, relax and rejuvenate through self-care routines. Dial back your “go-go-go” mode and tune in to a “resting” heart rate free from stress and overexertion.
RELAX – chill out and let go of all those coulda, woulda, shoulda’s from your school year brain and mentality. Nothing is “on fire”, “urgent” or “needs immediate attention”.
RESET – do things that will bring on a general reset on your life in order to get back to equanimity, balance and a more leveled path to travel rather than riding the ups and downs of a roller-coaster of a school year.
Actually, I think there are a few other essential “R”s beside these obvious ones.
What could those be?
REFLECT – reflect back on the past year and write it in a journal or new lesson plan book…what went well and what needs to change in the upcoming year.
What do you want your school year to look like?
What do you want your classroom culture to look like?
What action steps and boundaries do you need to set in order to make this a reality?
REJUVENATE – rejuvenate comes from a French word meaning to make youthful again.
What is making you feel old and tired in your daily routine? Try to change it and breathe new life into it.
What old and outdated strategies, lessons and mindsets do you need to rejuvenate and bring forward to meet your new and youthful students where they are?
How can you think like a student and what their world is like in order to take on more youthful approach to your teaching?
REGENERATE – this means to invigorate, recreate, reawaken, change, uplift and regrow
Like rejuvenate, how can you bring more life and joy back to teaching (and learning, for your students)?
What can you change about yourself, your context, your mindset that will help uplift you?
What is stagnate and needs to be changed in order for growth to occur?
What needs to be awakened in you again in order to feel invigorated in what you do every day in the classroom and to keep you from burnout and at risk of leaving the profession?
So, as you enter your days of summer break from school, I hope you will not only practice the 3 R’s of REST, RELAX and RESET away from the daily grind of school (out of sight, out of mind?), but rather that you also take some time to ponder the other 3 R’s of REFLECT, REJUVENATE and REGENERATE in order to set the groundwork for a healthier, happier and more sustainable school year 2023-2024. It’ll be here before we know it!
Image credit:
“Letter R” by ThreeBytesFull is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
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