El verano.

So my second summer is drawing to a close. This summer, much like the last, was a great way to relax, catch up on much needed sleep, and basically remember was it is like to be a human being. However, also like last summer, I found myself bored. I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as I continue to teach, I need to get a job over the summer to keep myself busy!

Now, even though I just got done saying that I had bouts of boredom this summer, I need to go on a little rant about how much of my summer I didn’t actually HAVE. Teachers are seen as being these people who “have it easy” by certain parts of the population. “You get off at 3″, “You get breaks for holidays and 2 weeks at Christmas”, and of course, “You have summers off”. First of all, anyone who wants to check with my boss and see how many times I left the building at 3 pm on a school day any of the 360 days that I have taught will come back with a major GOOSE EGG! Secondly, if what I have provided in this blog over the last two years, and what practically any teacher will attest to if you even slightly bring up a work conversation with one, teachers work enough during the 10 months of the school year to make up for all this “off” time that we supposedly have. So let me break it down for you in numbers (I am a math teacher after all!)…

Average American’s hours: 40 hrs/wk, 50 wks/yr = 2000 hrs/yr

My hours: (estimated, to include at school and home): 75 hrs/wk, 36 wks/yr = 2700

(and I PROMISE that’s an underestimate)

Summer: 10 weeks (not 3 months as is typically assumed)

• Number of business days in 10 weeks: 50
• Number of “official” workdays: 7
• Number of “unofficial” workdays: 5
• Number of “workshops” (**unpaid**): 9
• Total number of days ACTUALLY off, based on that count: 29…or just less than 6 weeks

Now, let me say that this is not to complain, because I love my job, otherwise I would’ve left it after my TFA commitment to go do more “prestigious” things and make way more money. However, it does bother me that the section of America that doesn’t have the privilege of having a successful, effective teacher in the family honestly believes that teachers have it so easy and might actually be getting paid what they deserve. Oh contraire, mon cheri!

But now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, here are a few pictures from what I did this summer…

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Overall, I have enjoyed the summer, but I’m honestly ready to get back to work. I miss the kids and the feeling of purpose. Stay tuned for news about year 3!

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