95 Ways Elementary Teachers Relax During Summer
How do teachers keep up with all the latest trends in education? How do they keep themselves motivated and fresh every year?
Here are 95 ways teachers stay fresh for school. These ideas are from elementary teachers just like you, who want to be the best teacher they can be. These are things that teachers do over the summer to stay fresh for school
A word of advice: this is a list of ideas teachers generate. It is a long list. Don’t feel like you have to do it all. You can’t do it all. I wrote an entire blog post about being unable to do everything as a teacher.
Pick a few areas or ideas that resonate with you and try them out. See if they work for you. If not, don’t do them anymore. If they do, continue doing them and add another idea to your routine.
Here are a couple of blog posts that might also help you not stress about teaching or keep from being too overwhelmed by teaching:
- But I Can’t Do It All
- 30 Ways Teachers Can Destress in September
- How to Survive as an Introverted Teacher
- Quick, Low-Stress Meals for Teachers
Here are 95 ideas to help you stay fresh as an elementary teacher over the summer. These ideas are divided into two groups: school-related and non-school-related activities.
Ideally, we teachers would do some of both groups. I hope you find some ideas that you can adopt this summer!
Relax by Not Doing School-Related Activities
Below are some non-school-related activities that teachers do over the summer to stay fresh. These fun and relaxing activities are separate from school and work and focus on spending time with family, reading, exercising, and doing things for yourself.
- Maintain a positive attitude and start every day as a new day
- Keep to a regular exercise routine
- Always try to learn new things
- Read outdoors is refreshing and allows thoughts to flow
- Keep my coffee supply stocked
- Take time just for yourself every weekend
- Practice self-care for nearly the entire summer
- Do water aerobics in my pool
- Take the weekend to just spend time with family
- Try not to take work home
- Give myself me time
- Join a running clinic
- Get 7 hours of sleep
- Go on a short run each day
- Spend time with people I love
- Have at least one last date night a week
- Get a manicure and pedicure to relax
- Go to the beach with family and friends
- Spend time praying and reading God’s Word for wisdom
- Sleep, run and spend time with family
- Read a lot of inspirational texts
- Read my mushy romantic stories
- Get a massage and do my hair and nails
- Go to bed before midnight
- Enough sleep, healthy food, and some peaceful mindfulness
- Take a social media break and limit technology
- Pick out an audiobook to listen to on my commute
- Do fun summer activities right up until August with kids
- Make sure I go to all the necessary doctor appointments
- Have a cup of coffee in silence
- Balance work and play
- Work out and eat a good breakfast
- Swim in my pool and explore different places in my city
- Schedule spa days or weekend trips
- Enjoy sunrise and sunset
- Read a good book, make art, get enough rest
- Travel
- Go to yoga
- Cook great food
- Sit on my front porch
- Spend quality time at home
- Ride a spin bike
- Spend time in the pool
- Read my guilty pleasure: horror books
- Read non-teacher books
- Can all the garden vegetables
- Work in the garden
- Take walks
- Read on the patio
- Visit grandchildren
- Participating in HIIT Hot Pilates 2-3 days a week
- Watch a movie
School-Related Activities that Help Teachers Stay Fresh
This group of ideas for teachers is focused on school-related activities that bring new ideas and can invigorate your teaching throughout the year.
- Do a little bit of prep at a time gradually throughout the summer
- Plan fresh activities for my classroom
- List want-to’s for this year
- Reflect on the previous year and generate new ideas for the next year
- Read blogs to gain new perspectives
- Take professional development every summer
- Figure out how to go digital and use Google classroom
- Follow other educators on Instagram
- Watch free Facebook lives with reading and writing specialists
- Browse Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers through the summer to be inspired to learn something new
- Following social media for new tips and tricks and by
- Reread professional development books
- Keep up with current research in the field
- Learn from and collaborate with other teachers and online educators
- Start a new planner
- Host student teachers to see their new ideas
- Look for new ways to keep kids excited
- Plan out my year
- Organize my classroom and materials
- Change things that need to be better
- Pay attention to the latest trends related to students
- Watch vlogs, listen to podcasts, attend webinars
- Laugh with my kids and my co-workers and try to keep a sense of humor whenever possible
- Focus on ADHD-related books to better understand some students
- Never stop working to grow
- Plan to provide more opportunities for hands-on learning in math
- Go back to school and start your master’s degree
- Discover new and fun ways to teach
- Buy the best resources and supplies that can be found
- Promise to leave school on time
- Plan to implement a Daily Classroom Meeting agenda that focuses on skills for success in school and life
- Subscribe to lots of teacher Facebook groups
- Pick a few school projects, crafty or practical, that I don’t get time for during the school year
- Attend a week of training in the Responsive Classroom
- Participating in Twitter chats with other teachers
- Scrub my classroom top to bottom, clean out my supply area, and purge useless items
- Help create a school-wide pacing guide for ELA
- Create fresh binder covers
- Re-read Understanding by Design right before the year starts
- Attend a 2-day literacy conference
- Make the classroom jazzy for incoming student
- Buy a new children’s book to read in September
- Re-read The First Days of School and The Power of Our Words
- Spend a lot of quiet time in my room alone, visualizing the upcoming year
What do you do to keep yourself fresh over the summer? Do you rest, relax and rejuvenate? Do you look forward to next year and search for new ideas for your classroom? Or a little of both? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
I stay fresh by really using summer as family time. While I am always thinking of and praying for my students and teacher friends, summer is my physical and mental break from all things school. As of August 1st, I will revisit our classroom and begin prepping school materials; after my two month break, I am refreshed and excited to start another year of teaching and learning!
What I do to keep myself fresh is take the whole summer to myself. I don’t do anything work-related except for take my time reading one PD book that I am really interested in. Otherwise, I spend my time relaxing, spending time with friends and family, traveling, going to yoga, cooking, etc. Things that make me happy. About a week before we go back to work I’ll slowly start thinking about my classroom, maybe pick up a few things that I see at stores here and there, but that’s it. This way I feel super refreshed and ready to go back when the year starts.
I like to come in fresh by totally turning off teacher brain the week before I report back. We also have our family beach vacation toward the end of our summer to help with that. I know that I am one that works on perfecting what I do a lot through the year so I try to focus on rest and re-energizing before returning for the next year. Most teachers put themselves and their health & rest last on their long lists of to-do’s throughout the year. I can be better for everyone by focusing on my own health, rest, and family.
Thank you for this opportunity. I enjoy your emails. To keep fresh, I love reading professional development books during the summer.
I stay fresh by taking time for myself in the summer. I have a nice balance of work and fun. I plan and pace throughout the summer, so I’m ready when school starts. But I also do lots of reading and spending time with family and friends.
Thank you for sharing! I make sure I stay fresh by always preparing ahead of time so I do not get stressed.
I try and take some time to recharge and also think about small changes I can make in my lessons.
Thanks for the opportunity to win! I love the TPT B2S sale!
I stay fresh by reflecting upon last year, taking a REAL break during the summer by disconnecting from school, then about this time I start revamping lesson plans, enhancing my classroom management strategies and plan. I’m starting to feel ready for 2018-2019!
Thanks for the opportunity to win! I love the TPT B2S sale!
I stay fresh by reflecting upon last year, taking a REAL break during the summer by disconnecting from school, then about this time I start revamping lesson plans, enhancing my classroom management strategies and plan. I’m starting to feel ready for 2018-2019! (:
To “stay fresh” I do a lot of research and reading over the summer in hopes to improve my teaching and stay current with all things new!
Thanks!
Thanks for the giveaway! As a new teacher, I would like to make a tradition of taking a day to relax in the classroom I spent all of my summer planning and days setting up. I think it’s important to feel at home.
In order to keep myself fresh for school, I set a “classroom curfew” for myself to go home and enjoy things that aren’t necessarily school-related. I also like to sit on my front porch and give myself a pedicure every so often. Freshly painted toes always make me feel better!
I tried to say fresh by changing things around every two years. this could mean anything from grade level changing tothe theme.
I am already on your mailing list. I stay fresh by not staying at school too late. It is important to spend quality time at home to relax and rejuvenate yourself so you can give the best of yourself during the work day.
Great opportunity! Thank you! I stay FRESH in my teaching career by reflecting on the previous year with the ups and downs, and memories. I often do this about mid-summer break so that i can revamp activities, cut certain activities, and get ready to come in to a new school year READY TO GO!
I stay fresh by updating my Pinterest boards during the summer with new activities/things I want to try during the school year.
I stay fresh in school by playing fun music for my students all day and not being too serious. I love having fun!
I stay fresh by keeping a positive attitude! I love summer and spend the last few weeks relaxing before hitting school hard! Enjoy your year everyone.
I’m working to stay fresh by practicing yoga or riding my spin bike with my husband in the mornings. Getting up extra early to do this with him is worthwhile on many levels – it is keeping our relationship strong by having “us time” and also helping me take care of myself so I can better care for my own children and students. This is a great new addition that I started at the end of last school year and I look forward to continuing it!
I stay fresh by keeping up to date on all the new ideas and plans.
I ( and my class) start fresh by learning the differences between a Growth and Closed Mindset. How we ALL can have an excellent year if we change our attitudes, perceptions, etc to a growth mindset.
I keep myself fresh by reading various professional development books throughout the year.
I stay fresh by getting new resources from TPT! Sounds like I’m trying to get on your good side but honestly, I get tired of the same same themes and lessons every single year. I keep the favorites of course but I want something to keep ME fresh even though it’s always new to the class. I also read a lot of blogs for new ideas.
I stay refreshed by reflecting on what went right and what did not, and watching webinars or reading to improve. I’m always looking for ideas to do things differently. Over the summer I’ve been working on improving myself and so I can be a better person. I’m just starting getting some reading and math centers and beginning of year activities ready little by little. I love to read for myself as well as classroom techniques, looking at Pinterest, facebook, and blogs for ideas. I am going into a new classroom this year and am excited to create a positive, fun learning environment for my students! Thank you for the giveaway!
I prep all of my work for the first two weeks during my last part of the school year. I’m all set and just need to do a few things to get ready. It saves time and stress.
I look for new ways to present the curriculum, spend time in the pool and read my guilty pleasure horror books!
Thank you for giveaway. I stay fresh by learning something new each summer & implement them in my classroom during the school year.
Staying current with PD and gradually prepping through the summer ensures a smooth start for my students.
I stay fresh by getting enough sleep every night so I’m ready for the next school day!
I attend a 2 day literacy conference at my Alma Mater that helps me revamp and begin new lesson plans! I network with teachers from around my state and old friends at the university.
I try to relax & hang around my husband as much as possible. I read non-teacher books, and can all the garden vegetables.
Thank you for providing this giveaway. I am already on your email list. To stay fresh I meet with my team and discuss ways to make the year great. We map out what order we will teach the reading and math lessons then have lunch together.
I stay fresh by always looking for ways to make my instruction more fun and new.
I refresh eveday with a nice hot cup of coffee. With my mg of coffee in hand I can face anything!
Thank you for the give-a-way. I talk the month of June free from school thinking. Then when July comes, I begin planning for the coming year, both in my classroom and at home (e.g. looking at what went right and what went side ways, and cooking freezer meals).
I drink a lot of coffee during the day to keep my going. Before school resumes i take a class or two and I plan for activities for the year.
Thanks. I stay fresh by reading and relaxing in the summer. I love getting toogeyjer with cohorts to discuss books and have lunch.
I stay fresh by reading for myself everyday and enjoying my 2 girls.
I stay fresh by prepping a lot but everyday over summer so I’m not panicked when the school year begins
Hi! Already receive your e-mails. 🙂 I stay fresh by connecting with others outside my school circle and by learning new things. Teachers are learners! Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.
I love to make my room jazzy for incoming students. In turn, it makes me stay fresh and focused.
Staying fresh for school is difficult, because being a teacher isn’t a job it is WHO we are. After school is out, I give myself a week or two for my brain to slow down on school thinking. After then, anytime something school related pops into my brain, I distract myself with a walk, reading a book, calling a friend or anything that is relaxing and fun. Soon, school is rarely thought of. Come August I’m refreshed and excited to get back to “my kids”.
To keep things fresh in my classroom, I try to learn new strategies and technology during the summer that I can implement during the next year.
Trying everyday to do my best and staying as positive as possible.
Buy a new children’s book to read in September
I stay fresh by making sure I keep time for myself and my family. I also keep my instructional routines fresh by trying to implement something new and different not just for my kids but me as well at least once a month. Being a lifelong learner is a great way to keep the ideas fresh so I’ve enrolled in grad school!
I get outside work in the garden, take walks and read on the patio. I always pick a book on a topic I want to learn more about or reread a favorite. This summer I read Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller. LOVE!
I stay fresh by learning new things…take a class, read a book, join a twitter chat.
I am always on the lookout for something new and creative (plus easy for me) to do with my students to help them master their skills
I am always on the lookout for new things to help my students master their skills.