What do Teachers do in the summer?

Teaching three year old children you learn not to be surprised by the questions that you are asked as this age group is naturally inquisitive.

As a circle time conversation, I asked the children "What will you do during your Summer break?" After they supplied their fun answers a child turned to me and said "Ms. Tomika what will you do in the summer?" -I had to construct a fun answer (which I will include at the end) but this is what a Teacher does during the summer.

Hopefully most Teachers are enjoying lots of down time. Fun at the beach, fun with the family etc. However, in my experience, it is not always fun and games for teacher. Here are a few things that I will be working on during my summer break.

1. Organization:
During the school year I try to stay organized but the days fly by really fast. So during the summer when you have some down time or for me, before my true vacation time starts, I organize.

2. Clean
Organizing and cleaning are similar but very different. In a classroom, cleaning means sanitizing, removing unwanted items, recycling other teachers unwanted items into my classroom.

3. Planning, Planning, Planning...
I am a planner. So I am always thinking what to do ahead of time. Getting a head start on my planning will help me once the school year creeps closer and closer. I try to plan The First 6 weeks of school which will allow me plenty of time once school starts to plan ahead.

4. Execution
Weeks before children arrive, Teachers are arranging the classroom and rearranging to make the space perfect for the children and their families that will be arriving soon.


Now as you know I didn't tell the child who asked me about my summer break plans all of this so I stuck to the fun plans of hanging by the beach, in the pool and with my family- which are all in the plans but the not so fun stuff is the more pressing info for me.
As a teacher or educator, how do you handle all of your teacher responsibilities and summer time fun during the summer?