1.  Sleep in.
2. Sit on the couch and pretend you are doing “school work.”
3. Read devotions.
4. Make a chicken salad sandwich for lunch.
5. Do income taxes.
6. Find teachers to follow on Instagram.
7. Stalk said teachers on Instagram.
8. Stalk your daughter-in-law on Facebook to see the new pictures of your first grandson.
9. Sit on the couch some more and pretend you are doing school work.

Does this sound familiar?  It’s exactly how I spent today.  My bookbag sits across the room from me with four novels to read to prepare for classes next week and my lesson plan book with blank pages to fill in.  And yet. . . .

I know it’s important to take time for one’s self to do the things one has to do (such as filing federal and state tax returns).  Taking a necessary step away from “work” is healthy.

It also makes me feel guilty.

• Why am I not creating content for my curriculum the way those teachers on Instagram are doing?
• Why am I not reading new books to include in the curriculum for next year?
• Why am I not reviewing the faculty’s unit plans and providing them with feedback for the next round of plans to be submitted?

And there are a dozen more questions I could add to that list?

It’s time for teachers to stop feeling guilty for taking time away from the classroom to rest.  I know I will be a better teacher on Monday if I come to school refreshed instead of worn out and burned out from working all weekend.  Besides, sometimes I think we get the best ideas when our brains are idle for a time.  Like a few nights ago while I was soaking in the tub. . . . I had been trying to figure out what to put on those hexagons so my eighth graders could do some hexagonal thinking for Romeo and Juliet.  I hadn’t intended to think about school or lessons, but while I soaked away the day’s stresses, the ideas popped into my head.  When I dried off and dressed for bed, I went out, found my notebook, and scribbled the ideas down.  The next day, I put together the hexagons and made my envelopes.  I am ready for Monday’s first attempt at hexagonal thinking.

So, while I continue to sit here on the couch, I am putting my brain on idle.  I am going to pick up my crocheting project and finish another motif and add it to the bedspread I’m making.  A little later, I’ll head to the kitchen and straighten up there, and have pizza for supper.

Tomorrow, I will work on those lesson plans and read the assigned chapters in the novels.

Spending Saturday on idle tasks is not shirking my duty as a teacher.  It’s making sure that on Monday, I am the best version of myself that I can be.