My Summer Break at Home Is Still My Summer Break

If you read any education-related social media right now, you're probably as flooded with the "shoulds" as I am. Here are just a few of the things teachers are being pressured to do:

• Make a bitmoji virtual classroom 
• Create virtual bands/choirs/orchestras for all their ensembles, the reality of the time it takes or difficulty getting a good result be damned
• Use their own personal devices for work purposes while still not getting paid nearly enough
• Spend their summer break learning to do distance learning "better" in case we're still online in the fall. 

It's that last one I really take issue with. I get paid for 183 days. I always work about 5 more than that getting my classroom ready for the year and prepping curriculum. Which is fine. I choose to do that. But other teachers are telling me that I need to "sacrifice" and "be flexible" and learn tons of new stuff this summer in case I have to do a job I didn't sign up for in the fall. My answer is simple: NOPE. I'm going to take some summer courses (gotta get that pay bump!), but not on how to be a good distance learning teacher. I'm going to pick classes related to what I teach that I think I'll enjoy and will help me be a better teacher in general. 

I'm not going to learn to do a virtual ensemble. I won't be making one. It's not my job, and it's not realistic in my teaching context. I'm not going to learn to do flashy video editing tricks to make my lessons "more engaging". I'm not going to spend my personal time learning things I don't want to learn. 

"But you can't go anywhere anyways! Be a team player". My answer again: NOPE. I might not go anywhere (and will adhere to guidelines regarding travel as long as they are in place). But I can sit outside and do absolutely nothing. I can read a novel that has nothing to do with my job. I can watch hours of mindless reruns. I can be a person, not just a teacher. Global pandemics shouldn't be another excuse to perpetuate the teacher-martyr narrative.