Here in Maine we are halfway through winter, which to students and teachers means that we are halfway to summer.  It also means that we are halfway from excitement and high energy and halfway to despondency and exhaustion.  Many people think that two months without pay in the summer is a perk for teachers, and many teachers agree.  However, summer break is more than an unpaid perk; it is a necessary detoxification and revitalization period.  For ten months of the year we oscillate from the joyous rewards of amazing breakthroughs with students to feeling like poor Sisyphus, back to a sense of hope, only to be overcome with the dread of despair just before we summon ourselves to brave a new day that inevitably reminds us that our good work positively affects the lives of our students.  Such is the nature of our vocation, which is why vacations are our saving grace!   Thus, as we shovel our way out of the blizzard Nemo and cling to images of warmth and sun, we drag ourselves through this last week before February vacation, which will be followed by April vacation, which will see us through to our heavenly and well-earned summer months.

Any teacher reading this is probably sighing, "Amen to that!"  In stark contrast, non-teachers may very well feel differently.  Those in business may even grumble "whiner" as he or she reads.  However, teachers know something that few business-as-usual people do.  In order to give 110% on a regular basis, one must take breaks on a regular basis.  The February 9th, 2013 NYTimes article Relax!  You'll Be More Productive by Tony Schwartz (http://nyti.ms/Xw0F9A)  is apropos as we head into February vacation.  Teachers receive an incredible amount of flack for circumstances beyond our control, and this flack takes an immeasurable toll on our most powerful and influential assets - our optimism and idealism.  Of course our knowledge of content and the science of teaching is crucial to the success of our students.  Yet so is the art of teaching, and, most importantly, the heart of teaching.  With so much talk of "accountability" of teachers and "rigor" for students, I fear that the culture of our educational institutions is doing more damage than good to the hearts and souls of teachers and scholars.  Jumping through hoops and being overburdened by work for the sake of accountability and rigor does not make for better teachers or scholars. I laugh at the idea of a longer school day resulting in higher standardized test scores.  And yet, according to this article, if we were to add breaks between classes for fresh air and a clearing of the mind and time for a relaxing lunch, we might all be more productive and more content. An extra hour built into our daily schedules should be added and divided between our eighty minute classes and the rigor of our engaging classrooms.  Ah, to breathe again...

I think back to the time at my school when there was time to collaborate, eat, use the restroom, and touch base with students and colleagues.  I think back to a time before devastating budget cuts when there was time to breathe.  Now, not only does the country seem unified in its mission to vilify teachers, education budgets are being slashed and teachers are being asked to do more under the assumption that what we do isn't productive or efficient enough.  At my school the academic, social, and emotional needs of our students are greater than in all my ten years here, and yet, our class sizes are getting bigger and our time to connect with students and colleagues reduced.  Hype of the "flipped classroom" and online classes sends the message that teachers are all but irrelevant.  Standardized tests that do not test what we teach in the classroom send the message that what we teach, a love of learning and knowledge, habits of mind, and skills that will endure a lifetime, are also irrelevant.  God forbid that a student loves literature for its own sake.  No, the resounding message is that in order to raise test scores we must teach students words they will rarely if ever use, ask questions of passages out of context, and abandon teaching the very type of writing that we ourselves enjoy reading throughout our lifetimes.  The heart and art of our craft, too, seem considered irrelevant to those at the national, state, and local levels that are holding us accountable.  It's no wonder that teacher morale is low.  Indeed, we are at an emotional, physical, and spiritual breaking point.

And the irony is...the more we are burdened with pressures that contradict the very reasons we went into teaching, the love of literature and writing, a love for children, the desire to make a difference, the less productive and certainly more cynical we risk becoming.

And yet, and yet...we here in my English department carry on with an optimism that defies our situation.  I read the student work the English department displays; I listen to the academic and character lessons that are taught in our classrooms; I revel in the successes we all have reaching our most defiant, reluctant, and needy students.  I marvel at the compassion we show our students and one another.  It is unfortunate that so many forces seem to be working against us and little to no recognition is made of the good work we do everyday; however, our resilience and heart, that is our GRIT, continues to see us though each new day of frustrations and celebrations. Thus, with the best of intentions, in an email on Monday I asked one more thing of my colleagues.  I asked them to take this vacation to vacate the stress and work that is weighing us all down and to consider the same gift to our students. We all need this break to relax, restore, reflect, and reconnect with our love for teaching and learning.  It's a long stretch that will greet us after vacation.  We owe it to ourselves and our students to enjoy the time given to us as reward for the hard work we do everyday.  Indeed, we have earned this vacation.