Although there are many appeals to considering teaching as an occupation, one that always comes up is the free summers. After finishing up lessons and locking up the classrooms, how do teachers occupy their time during the warmer months? Many take time to spend with their families and friends, go on vacations and prepare for the following school year.
Social Studies teacher Andrew Taylor is infamous for his love of prairie dogs. His classroom is virtually covered in prairie dog merchandise, and they even decorate many assignments and assessments. Over his summer, Taylor plans to travel to Colorado in hopes of a sighting.
“I have never seen prairie dogs in the wild before,” Taylor said. “We’ll spend some time at the Rocky Mountain National Park and Pike’s Peak.”
Near the end of the summer, attention shifts to the new school year and possible changes in lesson planning.
“I try to take some number of my lessons, 15 to 20 percent of them every year, and redo them so that things are not the same for many years in a row,” Taylor said. “I definitely wouldn’t want you to take my class five years from now and think that these are all the exact same lessons.”
Oftentimes, curricula change between school years. Many teachers must work to incorporate new plans into their existing lesson plans.
“We are also doing a new world history textbook in the fall, so I will do some planning for that and see if the lessons are in the right order or if there are better things I can do,” Taylor said.
Current long-term substitute for several science classes Maggie Frost is looking forward to this summer. After her time at South, she will continue her career in teaching.
“I’ve been working on my resume and cover letter to apply for teaching jobs next year for chemistry, science or math,” Frost said.
Frost intends to spend as much of her free time with family as possible. She plans on traveling to Canada for some of the warmer months this year.
“My husband and I are renovating our condo and just doing little projects around the house.” Frost said.
Family time is a common theme amongst the staff. English teacher Kevin Cox plans on bringing some of his family to Michigan for a reunion this summer.
“We often try to have some family get togethers and family trips and we’re still fleshing things out,” Cox said. “It’s something to look forward to.”
