The view from my favorite after school walk.
This week typically marks April vacation week here in the northeast. After a particularly grueling winter, our school is open for part of the week. At first I didn't think it was a big deal: after all, it would keep me from sweltering into July in my third floor room with no windows, but I'm starting to second think my opinion. We have just started our last quarter, and I need a rest to start and finish this quarter with the same kind of energy as the first. I thought maybe I was being selfish this morning while driving to work, wishing I were still in my bed, longing for a rainy lazy weekday morning with nowhere to be. Afterall, we do have 13 weeks of vacation in a normal year. But if there were still any doubt in my mind by this afternoon of the importance of vacation, well then the roomful of expressionless zombies who stood in for my usual rambunctious group this afternoon speaks for itself.
As teachers, artists, and students, we have so many demands on our time day to day that it's easy for us to get so caught up in what we are doing that we forget to take time for us. How do you unwind and recharge during those long vacationless stretches? What are some creative ways you have found to keep your students engaged during these times?
