The End of Teacher Summer Vacation: How To Deal

I've reached the last stage in summer vacation, it's official. I posted earlier this summer about how teacher summer vacation works in a post titled Teacher Summer Vacation For Dummies. In that post, I only outlined the beginning of vacation, up through the third week. Well, now I'm on the opposite end. I officially go back to work (my contract begins) on August 6th, in twelve days, of course, I'll be in the classroom very soon setting up.

So, without further delay, here is the final weeks of teacher summer vacation:

3 WEEKS BEFORE GOING BACK TO WORK: At this point, you're undoubtedly starting to dwell on the upcoming school year. It's still far enough away that you're not worried about it, but you are a little anxious. You've probably gone to a garage sale or two to buy some school supplies, and you've probably already hit up the 1 cent sale at Staples or Office Max.

2 WEEKS BEFORE GOING BACK TO WORK: This is the week that you start realizing that your long vacation of doing whatever you want is on its last leg. You may decide to take an impromptu short vacation, try to sleep in as late as you can everyday, or go out and spend time with friends. The point is, the end is near, and you can feel it.

THE LAST WEEK: Here it is, the end of it all. You are counting down at this point. There is also a very good chance that you've already gotten back into your classroom to start preparing your room for the following year, because every teacher knows that having a "work day" just doesn't cut it, setting up a room takes DAYS, not HOURS. You've either taken the path of waking up earlier and going to bed earlier to "prepare your body," or you've taken the path of sleeping in to get as many zzzz's as you can before it starts.

THE LAST DAY OF VACATION: This day is worthless. You wake up, and it feels like a Sunday (even though it's probably not). You know that tomorrow you have to go sit in hours and hours of boring, pointless staff meetings and trainings. It is the inservice days that start the school year, and you know it's coming.

THE FIRST DAY BACK: The alarm goes off, and you crawl out of bed. This is it, you go back to work today. Congratulations, you have a job again! Go say hi to all those staff members, meet and greet the new teachers in your building (because, after all, the turnover rate is around 20%), and sit through boring meetings, lectures, mission statements, and typical, predictable trainings.

THE FIRST DAY WITH KIDS: Once this day comes, you're ready for it. You've been thinking about it, planning for it, hoping you make it through inservice days alive, and now you have. You'll surely be at school early, pacing the halls, determined to make a stronger impression than you did last year. You're telling yourself "I'm going to scare the poop out of them on the first day so they know who's boss," but you never do, and you never will. Those kids walk in, and you hit the ground running. Good luck, it's another year.