Ah Summer! A peaceful time of year for a teacher. The school year has wrapped up, the kids are back with their parents, and you only have one thing to say: FREEEEEDDOOOMMM.

In all seriousness, summer is the time teachers use to recuperate from the busy school year, and refresh so that they are ready to go for another round the next year. I believe that self care is super important as a teacher so that you can be fully present and supportive to your students. So for me, summer is important to ensure that I use my time thoughtfully to reflect on the previous school year, and practice self care so that I am ready to go.

Personally, that self care looks like a few different things. I enjoy spending my summer with my family. I have three sisters, so I did my best to spend time with them and catch up. Summer is kinda like a bear waking up from hibernation in the sense that I feel like I re-emerged back into the world. I went traveling to a few places this summer, including Disneyland for my sisters Bachelorette party, Seattle with the fam to watch Seahawks and Mariners games, as well as visiting family in Victoria and Fairmont. My sister got married this summer, so my family was busy with wedding plans and getting the last minute details ready.

But most importantly, summer is a time to catch up on my TBR list! I set high reading goals for myself each summer, and while I did not quite reach my reading goal, due to the fact that I spent a lot of time traveling and with my family, I did read quite a few great books! I also spent my time reading in ways that is not quite possible during the school year, such as reading on my back deck. Here in Canada, it is too cold most of the year to read outside, and during the nights that it is nice enough to read outside, it is a lot of work to clean off the patio furniture and get it ready to use for just an hour after work. Weekends are usually spent catching up on house work and prepping for the next week, so while I try to squeeze in reading time, I am not as free to just read for an entire day if I want to. That is what is so glorious about summers to me- the fact that I get to get up in the morning, make a coffee, and read for an uninterrupted period of time. I also get to go to a coffee shop during a weekday and sit and read my book with a delicious latte and scrumptious scone.

So in conclusion, teachers spend their summers doing what they need to do to take care of themselves. For me, as a book lover, a large portion of that self care comes from books. It could include perusing used book stores for my next book to add to the to read shelf, or it could include simply reading in the sunshine. Summer is my favourite time of year because it equates reading to me. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy reading!