The Spring Break Permission Slip

If this found your inbox it means I scheduled it correctly. I am currently practicing the “R” in the STRONG Teacher Framework by laying on the beach in the Bahamas. Whether you are at school or on Spring Break remember to schedule some time, even if it’s for only 5-10 minutes here or there. It all adds up.

Here’s a quote, a resource, a book, and an affirmation to help power you through the rest of the week.

QUOTE

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” — John Lubbock

RESOURCE

The Spring Break Permission Slip
You have permission to rest.

Not productive rest. Not “catch up on grading” rest. Not “reorganize my classroom so I feel ready for Q4” rest. Rest.

The R in STRONG stands for Recovery & Renewal. It’s the pillar most teachers skip. Not because they don’t believe in it — because they don’t believe they’ve earned it yet. The grading isn’t done. The unit isn’t finished. There’s always one more thing standing between you and permission to stop.

But the work is never done. That’s the trap. If rest is something you earn after the work is finished, you will never rest. The teachers who last decades figured this out: rest isn’t the reward. It’s the practice.

Your brain doesn’t restore itself during “productive rest.” That’s not opinion — it’s neuroscience. Answering emails from the couch isn’t rest. Grading with a glass of wine isn’t rest. Your prefrontal cortex needs actual downtime — no decisions, no planning, no output — to recover the executive function you’ve been burning through since January.

You know this. You tell your students to take breaks. You just don’t believe it applies to you.

It does.
Try it this break (or this week):

• One full day with nothing scheduled. Not “I’ll see how I feel.” Nothing. Planned emptiness.
• Your school bag? Leave it in the car. Better yet, leave it at school. It’ll survive without you.
• Do one thing that has absolutely nothing to do with education. Cook something slow. Walk somewhere without a destination. Read a book that isn’t about teaching.

That’s it. That’s the whole newsletter. Go rest.

WORTH YOUR TIME

🎙️ “You Don’t Earn Rest. You Schedule It.” — A STRONG Teacher Pep Talk. Four minutes. The title says everything.

AFFIRMATION

I don’t have to earn a break. It’s already mine.

P.S. If you need someone to tell you it’s okay to do nothing for a week — consider this that permission slip. Signed, a 26-year veteran who is probably nursing a sunburn as he writes this.

Stay STRONG.