Summertime

I was recently talking with an administrator of a small school. While we were talking, someone came up and asked him if he was relieved now that June was here and the school year was almost over. After this person left, the administrator turned toward me and said, “They have no idea”.

He explained that this is the busiest time for many of those who run schools. This is the time you are focused on the changes that need to be made, on all those details that need to be addressed for the school year to run smoothly. He explained that summer time is often his busiest time of year.

I do not find this surprising and I think it points out how seriously educators must take this time of year, even if they are not teaching and summer courses. The first thing that has to happen is, one must use vacations to recharge batteries. Breaks are important and help us focus on the job when it resume.

More importantly, this is the time to be looking at different textbooks, exploring different ideas for the new semester, revising a course syllabus, thinking of new ways to get the information across, determining what methods and examples are still current and which ones need to be replaced.

Yes, in one sense, I personally get a little bit of a rest since I am not teaching a summer session but I still need to keep my focus on the new year and do what I can right now to make sure come September, everything runs smoothly!