Going back to school after a long, relaxing summer can be a difficult adjustment for even the most seasoned educator. Typically, this transition is experienced in five stages. Read on to discover what stage you are currently experiencing.
The 5 Stages of Going Back to School
Stage 1: Denial
After a few weeks of summer vacation, you begin to think of yourself as a person of leisure. You enjoy long breakfasts, try new restaurants, and go to fun places like museums or the beach. You don’t want it to end.
“No!” you think, as you walk by a back-to-school display in early July. “There are many more weeks left.” You try to savor the end of your summer, but the weeks fly by until there aren’t any more.
Symptoms
- Refusing to look at a clock
- Not knowing what day it is
Stage 2: Avoidance
That first work day back you have every intention of getting things done. But then you have a meeting and a training to go to, and then you have another meeting. Plus, you have to spend some time catching up with all your friends at work! There will be plenty of time to get everything done and, anyway, there’s not that much to do…
Symptoms
- Adding to your “To Do” list with reckless abandon
- Visiting other classrooms for a “short chat”
Stage 3: Frantic Preparation
You are out of time! It’s the day before the kids come and you still have so much you want to do. You spend 12 hours at work creating handmade signs and organizing everything by color. You start getting ready to leave but then you remember that you still need to prep all your supplies for tomorrow, so you set your keys down and get back to work.
Symptoms
- Deciding at the last minute to totally re-arrange your table set up
- Reiterating to your significant other that you’ll be done “soon”
Stage 4: Anticipation/Excitement
When you get home, you are dead tired from all that work, so you fall asleep the minute your head hits the pillow…and wake up again half an hour later. You are wide awake, so you start thinking about the amazing lesson you planned for the first day of school. Then you wonder what lesson you should do next. You get so excited about all these ideas you can’t wait to start working on a whole new curriculum plan. Maybe you need to build a website too?
Symptoms
- Sleeplessness
- Inability to shut off your brain
Stage 5: Acceptance
You’ve made it through to the last stage! Yes, you were pretty tired that first week back, but seeing all the students love your amazing lessons helped you get through. By the time a few weeks have gone by you are used to having sore feet and random paint stains on your clothes. You feel at home in your classroom and love what you do, plus you’re kind of amazing at it!
Symptoms
- Googling, “Most comfortable teacher shoes“
- Contentment
No matter what stage you’re in, we wish you a wonderful school year!
How do you transition from summer back to school?
Would you add any other stages to this list?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
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