The Life of a Teacher During the Last Few Weeks of Summer

By Ryan Crawley

The first two weeks of August is like one long continuous Sunday night for teachers. The first day of school is edging closer and closer. How did the summer go by so quickly? It seemed like only a few days ago that we were celebrating the Fourth of July, and now we are almost at the beginning of the new school year. These next couple weeks will be spent tossing and turning in bed. We will be having dreams more often about being back in front of the classroom, and none of the students are listening. We have so much to prepare for before the cycle starts again!

Preparing the Classroom
A week or two before the beginning of each school year, teachers have to ask themselves a simple question. Do I want to spend the time reorganizing my classroom or is it good enough already? Changing out the bulletin boards can take quite a bit of time. Decorating the classroom in some sort of theme can be a week long project. Some teachers decorate their classroom with informative posters and signs so much that there is not an open space even on the wall. As a teacher, I have a confession to make. I’m more of a minimalist. I change up my classroom every four years. Up until then, I don’t change a thing.

Researching the Class Roster
If the detectives on Dateline researched their suspect lists like teachers research the students on their class roster, there would be no unsolved crimes. Many times, the roster consists of more than 25 students, so the investigation takes some time. A quick scan of the students’ last names will help determine if the teacher ever had any of the siblings to these classmates. If the teacher has had a brother or sister to their future student, then most of the time they will feel they have a good grasp on what they are in store for during the upcoming year.

For names they don’t recognize, the teacher, in preparation for the student being in their classroom, will contact the student’s previous classroom teacher from the last school year. They just want a bit of a forewarning for what they are in store for, whether it be for good or bad. They basically do this for the majority of their new students.

On the flip side, teachers usually seek out the new classroom teacher for the kids that were behavior problems or had academic struggles in their classroom the previous year. It’s a way to say that the teacher tried their best, and now they are passing off ownership of the student to the new teacher. It is a sign of good faith between two professionals.

Classroom Supplies
There must not be any other job on earth that is quite like teaching. Teachers go out and spend their own money to make certain their classroom is adequately stocked with supplies for the school year. Then they also buy extra student supplies for all of those kids that show up with hardly any of the items that were on the supply list sent to their parents.

Do parents realize that those supplies just don’t magically appear in their child’s desk at school? Sending a child to school with half a box of crayons, a couple of notebooks, and a rusty pair of scissors does not constitute the full year’s supply of materials needed. What other career asks a professional to spend their own money on essential items for work? And people wonder why teachers don’t wear better outfits to school. They don’t have the money after all of these other monetary demands!

Putting on the Teacher Face
It is always a surprise for students when they see their teacher somewhere besides school. They aren’t quite sure how to act when they run into their teacher in public places. For teachers, it can be just as awkward. We have to restrain ourselves from reminding the student in front of their parents to be on their best behavior in the supermarket.

When students happen to see their teachers during the summer it is even more strange. They see us laughing, smiling, and wearing shorts and tank tops! It’s like we have been replaced by normal, fun-loving people. However, once school is a few days away, a transformation slowly takes place. It is sort of like when Bruce Banner changes over into the Hulk. Smiles begin to fade away along with our tans. We shout at neighborhood kids for walking in our yard. We grimace and stare down drivers that mess up in traffic. The teacher persona is re-emerging from its three-month slumber. The game face is going back up for the next nine months.

Ryan Crawley is a writer/educator from Illinois. Born into a family of eleven, he spent most of his childhood watching old reruns of Three's Company and Happy Days. He has his Masters in Reading and Literacy, and is a certified Reading Specialist. He spends his free time writing, working out, and hanging with his two dogs Flair and Smoosh Face.