by Earl Mcgill

Created on: July 21, 2009   Last Updated: July 26, 2009

The key question a teacher should ask is, "Do I really want to teach summer school?"

Please note that the question is not, "Do I have to teach summer school for financial or whatever reasons?"

Looking back on my career as a high school teacher I really have only one regret-the summer I chose to teach instead of taking a much needed break from the classroom grind.

My regret is not so much based on what went on in the classroom that summer as it is in what didn't take place in my personal life. I didn't get to make my annual summer fly fishing trek into the Yellowstone back country with my sonsa restorative routine that energized me personally and made the first day of school an event to look forward to. And as the year wore on and the body wore down, it was also a summer event to anticipate with mounting pleasure as the last day of school approached. Instead, that summer I taught a class I wasn't particularly qualified to teach to students younger than those experience had prepared me to deal with, in an environment that can best be described as "uncomfortable.".

In a way I was coerced into teaching summer school. My department chairman (who always taught summer "honors" classes) mistakenly believed that my effectiveness during the regular school year was a harbinger of summer success. Financially, with three teenage sons and being the only wage earner in the family, I felt compelled to accept.

The results were predictable. The students didn't want to be there and sadly, I found out too late, neither did I.

Summer classes are pretty much geared for pupils who didn't make it during the regular session. My subject was English, which meant most of my students were freshmen who had failed to grasp basic language skills. This also meant that the classes were tedious and worse, boring. Unlike regular school classes there was little, if any, interaction, forcing me to revert to a role I abhorred, that of school master.

Although the classes proved to be something I would've never chosen to teach, my main regret was that I missed the "healing power" of the summer vacation. When school rolled around I already felt drained and reluctant to teach. Some call it "burn-out," a term that describes the inevitable result of doing too much of something you really don't want to do.

For the teacher who is financially strapped, I learned later on that teachers are especially qualified to deal with the public in temporary summer jobs that exist primarily because of the way the school year is arranged. If money is the motivator, in addition to asking oneself, "Do I really want to teach summer school?" a teacher contemplating summer school should consider reinvigorating themselves with temporary jobs such as park ranger or tour guide.

In the long run, I know from experience that the teacher who reinvigorates him or herself will be happier and more effective in the school year that follows.

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