As teachers, our summers are valuable for so many reasons. We recharge, reconnect with our families, finish our coffee while it’s warm, and allow ourselves the freedom to go to the bathroom whenever it suits us.
Summer is also this strange hybrid of “end of one year, beginning of another.” It’s a teacher’s New Year Eve, of sorts. The previous school year has just ended, and while the sunny days are longer, the weeks are not. September — our metaphorical midnight — will be upon us before we know it.
Like New Years Eve, the summer is also a time of making resolutions. As we finish that warm coffee or reapply sunscreen, we reflect on the previous year and promise ourselves of the brilliance we will bring to our classrooms next year. Maybe we want to find ways to grade less, write beside our students more, and finally integrate that novel or lesson we have been dying to try.
For me, this year’s resolution doesn’t involve novels or unit plans. It is focused on writing for enjoyment. To be clear: this is not simply for my students or career. I want to write for me. I am officially giving myself permission to write badly, revise when and how I feel like it, and enjoy the process. Because that’s what real writers do.
The practical side of my brain is already pushing back: Write the pieces you will expect your students to write next year. Model those pieces for them.
However, the more relaxed, sun-soaked, margarita-loving side of my brain says, “Nah. Write what’s fun.”
I’m going to agree with the latter.
Not only is that side of me more fun — and who doesn’t want to embrace the “fun” in the summer — but she’s more genuine. And a more genuine woman will be a better teacher.
If I want my students to become authentic writers, to write when they are beyond the walls of my classroom, I can’t guide them to that place if I don’t actually live that truth.
Therefore, I hereby resolve the following: my summer writing will consist of whatever I want. I pledge to be messy, creative, spontaneous, and perhaps brilliant. Summer is joyful, uninhibited, and revitalizing. My summer writing will reflect that energy.
After all, midnight and that new school year are just around the corner.
Jennifer Swisher-Carroll teaches AP Literature and English 11 at Edwardsburg High School in Michigan. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University and a Master’s degree from Indiana University South Bend. She is honored to be a Past President of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English. Jennifer resides with her husband and daughter in Granger, Indiana.
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I love this post. We all need to give each other permission to enjoy the writing process. If we don't find joy in it, we certainly can't lead our students to the joy, either. Here's to your New Year's/ Summer's resolution for freedom to write whatever you want to.
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