When it comes to the summer months, teachers seem to have it made! For three entire months, teachers get to have carefree vacation. Nothing sounds better than that, right?

If only that were true. It’s a common misconception to believe that teachers get to spend their summer vacation free of worries and responsibilities. While they may not be with students or in the classroom every single day, teachers still spend much of their summer prepping for the next school year. Below we’ve compiled what some of the best forward-thinking teachers are up to during the summer.

Lesson Planning

Just because they’re out of the classroom doesn’t mean teachers won’t spend countless hours updating and curating new lesson plans. Educators often spend a large chunk of their summer discovering new ways to get kids more engaged in learning through new lesson planning. Since education is constantly changing, it makes sense that many teachers spend their free time making plans for the upcoming school year.

“Summer is when I get a bulk of my lesson plans down, especially for the first quarter or so. It is nice to have the freedom to take the time to find new activities and exercises for the kids to use the next year. Plus, it helps me keep things topical!” – Kate McNally, Bilingual Education

Professional Development

Because of limited free time during the school year, these three summer months are the perfect opportunity for teachers to tackle professional development. From workshops to conferences, a lot of educators will spend June through August working on themselves as professionals while knocking out continuing education requirements needed for their teaching credentials or licenses.

Organizing the Classroom

It’s safe to say a classroom refresh is needed after the long school year. After 180 days in the space, teachers often spend their summer reorganizing and redecorating. While decorating a classroom sounds kind of fun, it is also very pricey! Not only are they hanging up new charts and decorations, but teachers are spending their summer stockpiling school supplies and other items to last them throughout the next school year.

“My classroom is an absolute mess by the end of the school year. I like taking the first few weeks of summer vacation to slowly organize things so I can take my time and make sure everything is perfect. It gives me peace of mind for the rest of the break!” – Rachel Rohland, Elementary Education

Learning & Launching New Tech

The only constant thing about education technology is that it is constantly changing. Those three summer months are the perfect opportunity for educators to catch up on everything new! Many schools roll out new technology over the summer months so that it’s ready to go for the new school year. Whether it’s a new online program, setting up a mobile deployment plan or selecting a new classroom charging station, there’s a lot that can be explored and learned within three months.

Recharging Batteries

During the school year, a teacher’s workday doesn’t end when they leave the classroom. Whether it’s weekends spent grading papers, or nights spent creating new lesson plans, teachers do more in a single day than they get credit for! Coupled with this, teachers are constantly “on,” during the day, shaping little minds to pave their futures. So if a teacher needs a little TLC during summer vacation, we certainly can’t blame them!

Teachers, how are you planning to spend your break this year?