School Vacation Week
And limping back to writing
It’s April vacation week here in Massachusetts, so public schools are closed and people in the eastern part of the state are running or watching the Boston Marathon.
It’s the first time since 2016 that I’ve worked a school year calendar, with breaks in December, February, and April. But the pattern of those school break weeks are all coming back to me.
It’s Monday of the break, which means I’ve spent the past three days doing the family gathering portion of the vacation (Easter dinner at my grandmother-in-law’s house with 26 other relatives). It was great to be away from home for a couple of nights, and to see people we only fraternize with at ritualized family events.
It’s Monday of April Break, which also means I’m gearing up to take a teacher certification test tomorrow, to show I have enough knowledge about how reading is learned that I could teach reading to young people. I have been studying the test format so I will be prepared, and I’ve been making cheat sheets to remind me of what I know about the science of reading. It’s not the way I really want to spend the Tuesday of break, but passing the test will allows me to continue in this job if I want it. To be clear, I do not want this job in particular, but I want the money that comes with the job, so I will do this teacher test to show progression for an additional teacher license. I will try.
It’s Monday of vacation, which means I am right-sizing my approach to the week, and this is what I remember most about school vacations as a teacher. This is not vacation; it is a pause in the responsibilities of the job that pays the bills.
I expect too much of these weeks. I want to get the house in order, rid the house of all the dust and dog hair and clutter that’s been piling up during my workdays, and finish the memoir that has been patiently waiting my revision. I am trying to find balance - pomodors of studying then creating, cleaning then exercising. I’m sitting down for fifteen minute bursts of creativity in between reviewing evidence-based strategies for teaching phonemic awareness and diphthongs. But what I really want to do is both burn down the house and this career that has paid the bills while shackling my creative muscles.
Instead I open Substack, find the post from the last “vacation” and write for a few minutes.
But the dryer just beeped, so I have to turn over the laundry and pack up the books that I’ll be returning, unread, to the library. Books that I - of course - borrowed during February break.