Cutting my summer short...

July marks the half-way point for summer break.  Due to {calendar changes}, we've got a 9 week summer.  That's a bummer.

Granted, I've spent a week with family in Arizona and am looking forward to a two week honeymoon. I've completed one book and am half way through two others.  I've had craft time, seen friends, enjoyed movie marathons, and napped without guilt.  I've went into school to help with open library and cleaning tasks.

I've had a good summer break so far and will continue to enjoy my well deserved time off.

  
(For all the squawking about summer break, I worked an average of three unpaid hours a day during the school year.  I'm also paid for nine months of work that's dispersed over a full year.  The government keeps 25% of my paycheck each month, then gives it to me months after it's been earned.  I also don't earn vacation time. I get one universal flex day and between 1 and 4 personal days depending on how much sick time I use the year before.  Next year, because I took 3 sick days, I get 2 personal days.  That's three days off for the entire school year before it impacts next year's personal days.  I'm also doing work over summer break, so it's not unstructured time-off. I'm dismounting from my soap box now.)

Students start the 2017-2018 school year on Monday, August 14th.  Teachers are required to report back on the 9th.  I however, am choosing to cut my summer short and return the 3rd.  Here's why:

1) I've got a brand new classroom to set up.  The teacher who left my new room wasn't moving out in a timely manner.  I have bookcases to move, boxes to unpack, a library to reorganize, and bulletin boards to hang.  This all takes time and the one day we're guaranteed in our classrooms to work simply won't cut it.

2) I've got a new curriculum to learn.  Moving from fifth to third hopefully won't be the drastic change I'm envisioning, but it's still a change.

3)  I don't do well with stress.  I've got a friend getting married early September and she wants help assembling wedding favors on Saturday, August 12th.  She was one of my bridesmaids.  How awful would I feel if I blew off returning the favor and helping her with her wedding because I procrastinated setting up my classroom?   I'd rather leave the weekend before school starts open for fun things, not being in my classroom.

4) I live ten minutes from where I work.  The air conditioning is only on from 7:30 until 12:00 each day.  I can use that week to transition back into the routine of school (and being dressed by 7 am each day).   I can go in, work for a few hours, blast music, slowly tackle items on my to-do list, not wait in line for the copier, and still have a bulk of my day left.  Chances are I'll do lunch with co-workers, making the day more exciting.  Spending a week slowly transitioning back to teaching sounds a lot better than a drastic and abrupt end to summer break.