Jen Russum

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Thoughts on summer…

Well, summer is here. And I love it. For those of you who know anything about teaching… it’s a draining job sometimes. Not only do you always take work home with you {especially if you are an English teacher with essays to grade}, but you never know what you are going to get each day you walk into the classroom. Will the Internet be down on a day it’s crucial for your lesson plan? Will you have a boy that makes a suggestive comment to you? Will you have a girl crying because she got kicked out of her house? Will you have endless excuses from students who didn’t get their homework done? Will your usually talkative class decide one day that no one is going to talk or contribute to the discussion? Is your class going to be too talkative? Is one girl going to dominate every conversation so that no else feels comfortable contributing? Is your class size going to be increased next semester? Are you going to spend a day trying to figure out new administrative mandates that affect when or how you teach?

I’m not saying teaching is bad. I love it. I am so thankful I’m a teacher and I know some of the things listed above happen in any career. But there is something about teaching that is just hard sometimes. I think it’s because you pack a year’s worth of work into nine months with all the prepping, grading, conferencing and the, oh yeah, actually teaching, but to top it off, you have these kids. And you care about them. And you share their burdens. And when their parents are getting divorced or are in the hospital or when they break up with their boyfriend/girlfriend or they are considering dropping out of school because of money issues or family problems at home. Or when you know they are so, so smart, but they are hanging out with the wrong crowd and it’s distracting them from doing well at school. All of it. It weighs on you. You want to encourage the ones who are doing well and help the ones who aren’t and when summer comes, you just take a big sigh of relief, and you sleep in and you smile and you relax, and you feel the burden lift just a little bit. You still care; you care so much, but now it’s summer and it’s time to rest.
Teachers need summer. Don’t be envious. Be happy for them that they get to recharge for a while before picking up the weighty honor of being a teacher in the fall.
And so that is me right now. I’m resting. I’m delighting in the year completed and am eager for the months ahead. I am thankful for the great students I taught this spring in a new class that turned out to be amazing. I look forward to my classes in the fall and inching closer to finishing my PhD. But right now, it’s time to rest.
But it’s also time to work. That is my prayer for this summer. That this season would be a beautiful, life-giving mix of rest and work. I don’t want to be idle and waste my summer away, where my rest turns into sheer laziness. Lazy is not life-giving. I want to do things. Act, play, create, even work, in a way that is still restful.
Yes, I have a whole list of specific goals I would like to accomplish. Yes, I have school work that must be done even though it’s technically “break.” But I have two overarching themes for what I want this sweet season of summer to look like… that it would be a time of restful productivity. A season of life-giving work. A few months where I accomplish a lot with few deadlines, with no anxiety, with joy on my face as I thank the Lord for this season of rest He has given me.
*Linking up with Call Me Blessed and Casey Leigh*

Comments

  2. amen. I have the same hopes for my post-college, pre-full-time-job life. Enjoy your summer, Jen! You've worked for it.

  4. I love the sound of that! Accomplishing alot with few deadlines. I hope you get everything done that you want but more than that, I hope you enjoy your summer and your time off (and that crazy heat 🙂

  5. you deserve nothing more than a couple months to unwind and relax! I always wish I would have been a teacher but honestly, I don't have the patience so it is a blessing I am not 🙂

  6. I admire teachers SO MUCH! There are about a zillion in my family, so I kinda' have to 😉 Kidding– ENJOY your break and recharging!!

  7. I just came across your blog and I LOVE IT!!! I am at UGA getting my degree in early childhood education. I student teach next fall 🙂 ! I hope that you have a wonderful summer break, and you SOO deserve a well rested break !