Making the Most of Your Summer (Ep. 523)

Tim: Okay, Jessica Stuver is here with me. Jessica, how are you?

Jessica: Wait, how are you?

Tim: I’m doing great. I’m excited to chat with you and talk about all things summer. So welcome back to the show—how did the end of the school year go for you?

Jessica: Thank you, I’m thrilled to be here again. It’s always an honor. The end of the school year—isn’t May just a marathon? All the events, the special schedules, the great weather teasing us, and the kids are super excited. But honestly, I felt so great at the end of this school year. One of my coworkers and I were talking and we were both saying it went really well. I was thinking about it, and I told her: that was the end of my 15th year of teaching—I don’t know where that time went. I really don’t feel like that was my 15th year. But looking back, I could feel the experience and the comfort and the routines. I felt really on, which was such a refreshing feeling. I also got a chance to do some new projects I had been really excited about, and they all went well. I was genuinely waiting for the other shoe to drop at every point, but I was really happy with how it went. I felt really good—still ready for summer, but really good.

Tim: That’s such a great feeling when you’re in the flow, for lack of a better term. But I want to ask you—even though you’re feeling

good at the end of the year and your projects went well, when you get to the end of the school year, are you still exhausted?

Jessica: Absolutely. I’m on a group text with some of my closest coworkers, and the day after the last day of school, one of them said, “I slept for eleven hours last night.” And I slept for nine—and for someone who just regularly has trouble sleeping, that was huge.

Tim: There’s no tired like teacher tired. It’s really something. But on a more positive note, let’s talk summer. What do you usually do? Any good plans?

Jessica: My usual summer plans come down to a few things. I do so much reading—I love it so much. My parents were both English teachers, so there was really no hope for me in that regard. I’m two weeks into my break and I think I’ve finished eight books so far. I also love spending time outside. I have a vegetable garden and a pollinator garden that I love tending to. Even just sitting outside—a literal and metaphorical breath of fresh air, listening to the birds.

My husband and I live in Cleveland, Ohio, so we’re very close to Lake Erie. We have kayaks, and kayaking on the lake or any of the surrounding rivers is one of our favorite things to do. I find it very relaxing. I’m not a big beach person, but being literally on the water is super relaxing for me.

As for specific plans, one of my biggest tasks this summer is working with our dog. We got a puppy in April—she’s about eight months old now. Focusing on her training and getting her in good shape before I go back to school in the fall is going to be a big priority, but it’s also just so fun taking her outside and playing with her. And we have one trip planned—we’re going camping in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We got a cabin. We love going off the grid for a couple of days, being in nature, and checking another national park off the list.

Tim: I love it. As you were talking, I was making the connection between puppy training and classroom management—if you set things up really well at the beginning and spend a lot of time with them early, it pays off for the rest of the time.

Jessica: It really does. I feel really lucky—she’s super smart and a fast learner. We put training bells on our back door so she can ring them when she wants to go outside. It was only 24 hours before she rang them for the first time. My husband and I were sitting there watching TV when the bells rang, and we just looked at each other like we had seen a ghost. Like, “Already?”

Tim: That’s awesome! Now let me ask you something I think applies to a lot of teachers. Do you feel like there’s pressure to have a fun or productive summer? And how do you make the most of your time away from school? Or on the flip side, if you’re just relaxing and taking time for yourself, how do you avoid FOMO?

Jessica: As for the FOMO—I can jokingly say that as an introvert, I don’t really have that. I’d rather just be home anyway! But honestly, in the past few years I’ve really noticed that how my school year goes dictates how my summer is going to go. A few years ago, I was super burned out at the end of the school year. A ton of things felt like they went wrong or got delayed—it was no one’s fault, it was just how it went. So that summer I said, “I need time to recover.” I didn’t do anything for school, and I went back into that school year feeling very refreshed.

This year, I felt good at the end of the school year, so I definitely want to relax and tend to things around the house that I don’t get to during the school year. But I’m also not going to stop myself if I have an idea I want to research for the coming year—especially if it makes part of the school year easier. In this profession, which is mentally and physically draining, summer should be restorative—whatever that means for the individual teacher.

Tim: That’s a really good point. I think I maybe framed my question wrong, because when we say “making the most of your summer,” we really need to do what’s best for us. Maybe making the most of your summer is just not doing anything—taking that time away from school, taking that time for yourself, being restorative. Doing nothing is one hundred percent okay.

Jessica: Absolutely. I tend to be one of those go-go-go people, and my husband is one of those people who says, “Please just rest.” He does have to remind me all the time that rest is restorative—and I think over the years I’ve really gotten better at that. But whatever’s going to put you in a good frame of mind for when you get back to school—whether that’s working on a unit you’ve been dreaming about and finally have time to plan, or whether it’s just hanging out for the summer—do it.

Even though I joked about the FOMO, I think one of the things I always try to do over the summer is say yes to something I wouldn’t normally be able to do during the school year—or that’s just harder to do. I was browsing upcoming concerts in our area and I saw one of our favorite bands is coming, on a Sunday. We’re going! During the school year I would have really labored over that decision. Whether it’s saying yes to an afternoon baseball game or a weekday concert, I’m not looking to pack my summer schedule. But saying yes to a few of those experiences makes it feel like I’ve used my time off well.

Tim: I like that. That’s a really good perspective. Now, one of the big things for my summer every year is the Art Ed NOW Conference. I know you’ve been going for a long time as an attendee, and now you’re presenting again. What do you enjoy about being at the conference, and what do you usually take away from the experience?

Jessica: I’m such a fan of the NOW Conference, honestly. I was looking back through my sketchbooks and notebooks, and my first one is from 2015—so I’ve been going for a long time, on and off. It really is a highlight of my professional year, genuinely. There’s something about the summer conference in particular that just gets me excited for the school year to come.

I think there are three big reasons why I love it. First is just the ease of attendance—not having to travel. You can enjoy it from the comfort of your own home, wearing whatever you want, and you have the ability to revisit presentations and ideas throughout the year. The after-pass is an incredible privilege. Second is the sense of community—the fact that it’s such a large conference and you can converse with other people and engage with the presenters throughout. Being able to move that conversation from the conference to the Art of Ed community and extend it has been such a privilege. And lastly—probably most importantly—it’s the inspiration. Every time I attend, I walk away with concrete ideas I can use in my classroom, but it’s also just that feeling of being surrounded by other people who really love this crazy profession. That sense of inspiration, especially from the summer conference, always ramps up my excitement for the coming school year.

Tim: I love hearing all of that. I also love that you’re such a natural teacher—you just broke it right down into three points!

Jessica: I get that from my mom. We love a list. Growing up she’d be like, “So—A, B…”

Tim: Now I also want to ask about your presentation specifically. What can people look forward to?

Jessica: So my presentation is called “Creative Transformations: Making Learning Come Alive.” It’s about using props, costumes, and classroom decorations to enhance your students’ learning and create really memorable, immersive experiences. I had a lot of fun creating this presentation. I’ve done about a dozen full classroom transformations over the years—I’ve dressed up, decorated my classroom, and built a theme around my teaching. The presentation includes some of my favorite examples from over the years, the benefits of doing this with your students, and then the practicalities of how to plan and actually execute one of these transformations.

There are a lot of teachers out there who do amazing classroom transformations, and I’m not the person who invented this idea. What I think I can show specifically is how art teachers can do it—because we teach either so many students or so many different media. Most of the examples of classroom transformations I’ve seen are from self-contained homerooms, which is amazing, but those teachers are teaching the same kids all day. As an art teacher, I’m going from seventh grade to first grade to second to fourth. How do I plan for that? That’s what I’m tackling in this presentation—helping others create a great transformation as an art teacher specifically, who very likely teaches a wide range of students, learners, and materials. So I hope you can expect some fun and a lot of costume changes!

Tim: It’s going to be really exciting. I remember when you first pitched this idea to me, I wasn’t sure—I’m at the secondary level where we wouldn’t typically be doing these things—but when I looked into it, I was like, “This is actually so much fun.” People are going to love the costumes and the transformations. So it’s definitely something to look forward to.

Now, before we go—you talked about your love of books. Do you have any good recommendations for people looking for something to read over the summer?

Jessica: Always! One book I read recently that I thought was outstanding—because it was so unique—was The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. She wrote The Help, which was a huge book some years ago. This is only her second novel, and it was really well worth the wait. My mom and I both really enjoyed it.

I also read a book called This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page. That was an unexpected feel-good—I cried multiple times, which is not difficult for me to do, but it was just beautiful. And if you want a book that challenges you a little bit, Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris was a thing of beauty. It really was.

I could talk about books, dogs, and what I’m making for dinner all day!

Tim: Ha! All right—if anyone needs more book recommendations beyond those three, find Jess on Instagram and message her. She can talk books all day.

Jessica: Yes! Find me on Instagram or in the Art of Ed community. We can chat books all summer—one of my favorite topics.

Tim: Sounds great. Jessica, thank you so much for coming on. Thanks for your time, and we will look forward to seeing you at the conference next month.

Jessica: Thanks for having me, Tim. I appreciate it.