As a teacher, the last few weeks of school are so tiring and stressful. There are so many things that need to be done, SGO’s, performance reviews, squeezing last-minute tests, quizzes, and projects in, and whatever else you have been putting off. When students know that their time is limited until summer, they get "summeritis." Summeritis is when the kids shut down for the school year and no matter what, there is no bringing them back.
The day I realized that there were only 20 days of school left, was the day I began my countdown.
Day 20- Holy Crap there is only 20 days, I have to finish this unit!
Day 19- “Come on guys, bare with me, we are almost done.”
Day 18- “You really need to pay attention, there will be a test on this “
Day 17- “If you don’t want to pay attention that’s fine, I already passed the 8th grade”
Day 16- “Test will be on Wednesday, make sure you study!” Students reply “What test?”
Day 15- “Today we will be reviewing for the test tomorrow.” Students reply, “We never learned any of this!”
Day 14- “Test Today” students reply “You never told us about the test!”
Day 13- (thinking to myself) how do I keep their attention for the next 2 weeks?
Day 12- “We are going to start a fun project for the next couple of days” teacher hands out papers. Students reply “How is a project fun?”
Day 11- (thinking to myself, YESSS! I forgot it was field day!!!!)
Day 9- “Ok, today we are going to work on our project.” Student reply “Can I have another paper? I lost mine.”
Day 8- “Did you listen to the directions? This isn’t what you are supposed to be doing.” Students give you a blank stare.
Day 7- (Giving myself a pep talk) “You have this, 6 days left. It can’t get too bad…..right? Home stretch, 1,2,3 break!)
Day 6- “Projects due tomorrow!” Students reply “I didn’t even start it yet. What do we have to do again?”
Day 5- As students start walking into class “We’re not doing any more work, right?”
Day 4- “We are going to watch a movie” Students reply “Uhhhhhhhhhhh” teacher replies “Would you rather be doing work?”
Day 3- Students say to their teacher “I’m going to miss you over the summer.” The teacher smiles and replies “I will miss you guys too!” Inside the teacher’s mind “You were a terror all year and now you say you’ll miss me? Trust me, I won’t miss you”
Day 2- Students say “Can we have an end of the year party?” Teachers think “Of course you can have a party, but you better bring in (insert your favorite food here) for me.”
Day 1- Students say “What are you going to do all summer without us?” Teachers reply “I will be relaxing and working my part time job” teachers actually want to say “What won’t I do without you guys.”
Day 0- As the bell rings and the students are leaving, teachers are all dancing inside their classrooms, mostly likely singing these songs “School’s out for summer, school’s out forever!!” “Break it down! Stop, Hammer Time! You can’t touch this!”
Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching and love all of my students, but when they check out it is a struggle to keep them motivated and on task. Don’t let the Summeritis pull you in just yet. To all my fellow teachers, hang in there and to any students, stay positive we will try to make it as painless as possible.
