The summer is an opportunity to refine my pedagogical skills and add new innovations to my classroom model – centered around blended, self-paced and mastery-based instruction. I equate the summer to the offseason in sports. The best athletes in the world use the offseason to improve their weakness and add new facets to their game.

Normally, my summers are a mixture of relaxation and content or curriculum creation.

The more experience I have, the less time I spend creating lessons – and the more time I spend creating innovations to my classroom model to amplify learning. This year, I will be creating and implementing professional development to share my classroom model with fellow educators.

The advice I would give a new teacher is this: Know yourself. If you need a break, take a break. But carve out time to refine your practice and implement new skills to your personal pedagogy.

Over the summer, I like to travel. I take three or four trips with my friends, husband, and our families. On a daily basis, I’m working on my M.Ed. (which takes up so much of my time!), reading (nine books currently!), working on my classroom (I’ve yet to remain in the same classroom!), and playing with my dogs. Summers help me maintain my work-life balance by offering the chance to mentally recharge and catch up on all of the sleep I’ve missed out on during the school year.

I also like to seek out areas where I can improve. Summer is my chance to investigate topics and ideas in a much less pressurized environment than I can during the school year. I like to attend PD offered by my district on topics that interest me; this summer, I’m focusing on Number Talks, ELA with ELLs, and several math institutes.

At first, I wanted to push through and teach summer school for the extra money. Now, I’ve come to realize that I need to take advantage of this time off. Maybe this will change further down the line. For now, I use summer to get situated and prepared for the year and to pursue my interests – and also take advantage of the downtime.

I have been teaching for more than two decades now, and the way I spend my summers has changed over that time. In my first few years of teaching, I would unplug and rest only. In the middle years, I worked to get extra money. In my later years, I’ve begun listening to webinars and attending and presenting at workshops.

Now, my summer is split. During June, I engage in continued learning by either attending or presenting at workshops. Summer allows me to reflect on my previous year. I build on what I did by changing what did not work and strengthening what did work. I also try to learn something new to incorporate in my classroom the next school year.

Over the years, I learned to take July off to preserve myself from burning out. July is reserved for family and vacations. I try not to do anything work-related in the first few weeks of the month.

I know every teacher has different things going on, but my advice for new teachers is to take at least two weeks to rest this summer! You must unplug from such a demanding job to allow your body and mind to recoup.

I take summer break one day at a time. Many days are blank slates; I have literally nothing planned. In between, there are strategically-planned short family outings and events. We try to make it to the lake a few times, the zoo at least once, and countless other destinations.

There is nary a day, however, that I’m not thinking about school and teaching. It’s not with “dread,” as some may think, but when teaching is part of who you are, it’s woven into your fabric – you can’t just turn it off. Teaching is not a 9-5 job for me. I rarely feel like I’m “off duty.” During summer, I can switch to “neutral.” However, as stated, I’m not truly “off.” I scour Twitter, stay in touch with my PLN, and generate new ideas. This summer, I’m spending eight days in Poland, investing in my practice. I was chosen to attend the “Journey through Poland” by Echoes and Reflections, the leader in Holocaust education.

That said, and I know it can be hard to let yourself believe this, but it is okay to step away from the classroom. You may even feel guilty at first. You may feel like you have to stay “on” and keep constantly doing or thinking about something school-related. But you are not a bad teacher for switching “off” for a bit (or at least to “neutral” like me). Your students will benefit from you being able to recharge.

I use summer to sharpen my saw that’s become dull throughout the year. For me, that means resting and recharging but also revamping and planning new things for the following year.

Early in my career, I didn’t dedicate myself to using this time to grow professionally. It was all about taking a break. About five or six years ago, I made a change. Now, I use summer as a time to learn, whether I’m spending time reading or attending classes, workshops or conferences. When I reflect, it’s obvious that I have grown more in my career since I shifted some of my summer time to learning.

When looking for summer balance, Stephen Covey would remind you to consider your mind, body, heart and soul. Devoting time to all four of those areas will ensure a healthy summer – and leave you ready to return to teaching in the fall.