Professor’s Perspective: Teaching in the summer

Some professors work through the fall and the winter just waiting for their time off in the summer. Other professors really enjoy teaching in the summer.

For those professors who teach in the summer, this could provide a tremendous opportunity.

If it is your first time teaching, the summer time may a good time to get used to your new work environment, get to know your colleagues and enjoy your time with your students in better weather. Teaching in the summer is an advantage for many new professors, as well as students, because worries about needing to cancel a class due to weather conditions are minimized.

The weather may even be so lovely that you can choose to change the classroom environment to outdoors in a quad, go on field trips and feel more encouraged to hang around the campus to get to know the school community better.

The summer is also a great time to get part-time or adjunct work with a college or university. You may have a more flexible work schedule and be able to devote a few hours to a course here or there.

Students can be at an advantage by taking summer school. Professors tend to be more relaxed and in a better state of mind than other times of the year. This may also translate into the kind of grades you would receive. As well, for students, it helps to get some of those extra credits or missed credits to either help you stay on course with your studies, or advance further so you would have more time for things like work and internships later on.

For professors who are fully established with the institution or institutions they work for…summer time is a great one to teach at your best. Usually with a lighter course load, there is more opportunity to either focus on the courses you have to teach, and/or to work on other projects that are important to you. These could be projects around the home, research, writing and projects related to work. You just may find that a project you start in the summer is something that you will carry with you throughout the year.

Value of Summer Vacation

Students and Professors can get a lot out of the summer vacation whether they choose to do school or take the time off to earn money or travel. Here are some of the ways the summer vacation is of value:

· For students that may have failed a course or not received the grade they desired in the fall and winter semesters, they have the chance to upgrade in the summer – this could be pivotal to reaching the coveted status of graduation
· For students that would like to fast-track their education and finish earlier, going to summer school can be the perfect way to speed up the process towards graduation too
· For professors looking to earn extra money – teaching in the summer is the perfect way to go about – perhaps they want to gain back some of the money they lost from paying high taxes
· For professors who have had a busy year of marking and preparing lesson plans, as well as teaching itself, the summer can prove to be an excellent rejuvenation time
· For students who take the summer off school, the summer can prove to be an excellent time to travel or earn money to pay for tuition for the following school year
· Especially for professors working in professional programs at colleges and universities, or an extremely research-orientated school – the summer can prove to be an excellent opportunity to catch up on projects and research interests, as well as writing work and other professional activities
· Students can use the summer to boost their resume and do school-related projects such as co-ops, internships and paid work to help them obtain a job after graduation
· For those students nearing graduation, the summer can prove an excellent time to plan for future endeavours such as going to graduate school, looking for ideal places to work or choosing travel destinations

Either way you look at it, there is a lot of value in a summer vacation.