This week marks a big change in the daily lives of many homes all across the state. Last week was all about sleeping in, having breakfast in your PJs and (sometimes lunch too!), afternoons by the pool, and staying up late to watch a favorite movie (again). This week it’s alarm clocks, hurried breakfasts and packed lunches, afternoons spent doing homework and going to practice, and early bedtimes. Back to school time is filled with excitement, nerves, and anxiety for many kids and their parents…and their teachers too!
You probably know that teachers spend a day or two decorating their classrooms and preparing for students to arrive bright and early Monday morning. You may even know that many teachers have an entire week before the kids come dedicated to curriculum training, professional development, and team planning. But unless you know a teacher personally, you may not be aware of all that goes on behind the scenes before any students set foot on a campus. Today I’m going to pull back the curtain and share a diary of a typical back-to-school teacher. When you take that beautiful First Day picture with your child’s teacher, keep in mind all the hard work, dedication, and excitement that has gone into making this moment happen.
August 4: Summer is unofficially over with a week full of professional development “opportunities” where attendance is not technically required but is strongly encouraged. Administration and central office staff have already been back for a week or more, and custodians have been working diligently all summer to make the school pristine for a new group of students. More families will come in to register for school nearly every day from now through the first week of school.
August 11-12: Staff Retreats
This is the first time the majority of the staff is together again, so the retreat will definitely include some team building (and hopefully breakfast). Retreats can be anything from a curriculum related field trip to team building scavenger hunts to team or vertical (cross-grade level) planning.
August 13-14: Nothing official on the schedule, but many teachers are hard at work transforming their classrooms from stacks of boxes to engaging learning spaces. Unfortunately, there’s usually no AC in the building but still we sweat through it. We know we won’t have much time next week, and this is the fun part!
August 15: Leadership meeting
The leaders of the school meet to discuss results of state testing and examine data trends to guide us in creating goals for the new year. It’s always rewarding to see our improvement from year to year, especially in areas we’ve been really focusing on. We also discuss school wide schedules and set the calendar for the year. Marking “5th Grade Promotion” on your calendar in August is a concrete reminder of the limited time we have with these kids each year. How will we ever fit it all in? More importantly, what can we do to make the biggest impact in a short amount of time?
August 18: We are officially back on the books. This will be a week filled with (more) professional development, (more) workshops on district initiatives, (more) training on curriculum updates, and (more) planning for the coming year. The best part: we get to go out for lunch and actually enjoy sitting down and talking with our friends instead of inhaling a sandwich while kicking the copy machine. Other special happenings for a teacher may include…
- Change in grade level assignment mid week due to unexpected fluctuations in student enrollment (I know you planned for kinder all summer, but guess what! You’re teaching fourth grade this year! And they’ll be here tomorrow!)
- Conferences with parents of students with special needs
- Planning with special education teachers
- District meetings for special areas such as reading, math, GT, library, technology, etc.
August 20: Class lists are released–whoohooo! Teachers are just as excited as students to learn who will bein their class each year. A truth about class lists: teachers do not get to pick their students. Classes are built by a group including classroom teachers, specialist teachers, and administration, and we take the job seriously. Contrary to popular myth, we don’t have a Draft Day during the summer where we get to pick our classes. Although that idea is quite intriguing…
August 21: “Meet the Teacher” night! This is a nervous time for most teachers because we know a good first impression goes a long way in deciding how the school year will go. We also know that it may be the only time we see some parents all year. The night goes by in a blur of “Nice to meet you!” and “How was your summer?” and “Your tissues can go by the sink.” Before you know it your classroom is once again filled with pencils, notebooks, crayons, and binders, patiently waiting for the magic of teaching and learning to begin.
August 22: One last staff meeting to finalize first day procedures, then the rest of the day is spent planning for the coming week and organizing the piles of tissue boxes, index cards, and paperwork from the night before.
August 23: Yes, Saturday. A few more hours to take care of the last minute things we just haven’t been able to cross off our list. The principal kicks us out noon, telling us to go home and enjoy the last weekend. Even though we’ve put in over ten hours every day this week we really don’t feel like we’re done. But then again, we never do so we go home and try to soak up a few more hours of “summer”. Well, actually, we take home as many laminated name cards, folders, calendar pieces, and book labels as we can carry, then sit at home with a glass bottle of wine and cut it all out while watching a rerun of Bad Teacher on TV.
August 25: First day of school! Ready or not, there they come…
I worked for 9 years as a middle school teacher before becoming a stay at home mom when my firs daughter was born. You described the whole process so accurately and succinctly. Great job!
“Draft day” . . . LOL!
Thank you for giving us this inside view into teachers’ summer duties.
It was fun to write! 🙂