School's Cycles and Breaks

Returning to work after a vacation can be difficult. Going back to school after a break is often like diving into a cold swimming pool; it is a shock at first, but soon, you get used it. That is what I love about living in the world of education: the cycles. The academic calendar is built on a series of starts and stops, beginnings and endings. It is a constant spiral of cycles that never really repeat.

Each year I get a fresh set of faces in my classroom. Although I am teaching “the same” curriculum, it is never a rerun of the year before. Not only do my new students alter the way the class functions, I am never content to simply repeat what I did in the past. I must tinker and tweak, revise and improve my lessons. In fact, I spend much of the summer doing just that. I feel compelled to apply what I have learned one year to the next year.

As the year progresses, my students are no longer new. They become part of my family. As I plan, I ask myself, “How will James react to this?” or “Will this challenge Angela?” or “How can I make this work for Steven?” I tailor the instruction to the students in front of me. It is custom made and it will never fit another class like it fits the current one. That experience makes me a better teacher and I carry that into the next lesson and the next year.

Although I adore my students and my career, the days off and the three breaks are very welcome. They are rest notes in our beautiful academic symphony. Sometimes, they are short and they merely allow me to catch my breath. Sometimes, like winter break, they are long enough to divert me completely. Sometimes, they are long enough that, by the end, I am eager to return to my students and classroom.

The standard reply to the question, “how was your break?” is “not long enough.” However, the breaks accent the year in an important way. While there is debate about whether students should get homework over breaks (and similarly if teachers should grade over breaks), these breaks punctuate the learning experience and allow the learning “to sink in.”

People are not computers. We learn in a wide variety of ways. As we gain new skills, learn new concepts, we change. Especially for children (and their teachers), that process takes a ton of energy. I always know when my son is about to experience a growth spurt; he eats a ton and sleeps late. Learning is no different. Students need time to make connections, apply their learning to their daily experience and to gather energy for that next leap.

My entire professional career has been in education. I have never experienced a job that moves in a straight line. I watched my parents and friends and I think my cyclical career has advantages over the more conventional routine. Of course there are trade offs and many of those are all too obvious. However, as we finish this semester after winter break and a lovely three day holiday, I looked toward the renewal that comes after the breaks – and the breaks that come after the learning!