With the close of summer, I've noticed a theme developing and I don't like it. It seems that everyone thinks teachers dread summer ending and school starting. I was at the grocery store the other day and a person who knew me asked me if I was ready for school to start. Conversations like this have happened on more than one occasion over the last couple weeks.
"Hey! You ready for school?"
"Yeah, I can't wait. Really looking forward to it!"
"oh. haha. yeah right. haha."
"Yeah, actually, I am. I excited to get started."
"Surrrre."
It just irritated me. It's like they thought the idea of a teacher looking forward to school starting was just absurd and unbelievable. It's sad our culture is like that. It's sad that people automatically assume teachers hate it when another school year starts. It definitely doesn't help that teachers not only do dread school starting but also make it known! Think about how it looks to community members when a teacher acts like summer ending is the worst thing possible! I don't think that community member is going to have a very positive feeling about their school. Sure, we all love summer, but if we are dreading the school year starting, perhaps we shouldn't be teachers. Right? We have such a powerful opportunity to do such important work with kids that we should relish the opportunity to meet another batch of kids and begin to make new relationships. We should be driven to provide an experience for our students of such monumental proportions that they are left in awe. Yeah, it's a tall order, but at least try. Parents are sending us their kids expecting our best. We can't be our best if we are having Summer's over blues. This is your chance to do something great! Change a life! Have fun!
I am looking forward to this school year and I don't feel bad saying it. I hope you are with me.
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