Daylight saving time can be challenging, especially if youâre a teacher. Itâs a real task to watch our tired students trying to make it through the morning and adjust their internal clock while we do the same. But you know if thereâs a silver lining or several, weâll find themâeven the sarcastic ones. Here are some reasons for teachers to love daylight saving time. Sure, a few of these are solidly tongue-in-cheek, but weâve also included some genuine reasons to love daylight saving time!
1. It ramps up the usual Sunday panic.
 
Losing an hour of sleep on Sunday puts teachers into super duper panic mode on Sunday afternoon, which of course results in super duper productivity, right? Itâs just the push you need to clean the house, plan the weekâs lessons, review your professional development, prepare and pack a weekâs worth of lunches, and grade those tests that have been sitting by the front door since Friday afternoon.
2. Itâs a reminder that punctuality is overrated.
Whether itâs a morning yoga class or brunch with your teacher friends, life is more interesting when you arrive an hour late for your Sunday plans because you completely forgot about turning the clocks ahead. Even though you make this mistake every spring, your friends will understandâwonât they?
3. Waking up when itâs pitch black outside is an adventure.
Just when you thought that the dark, cold mornings of winter were coming to an endânow you get to wait for another month or two before you wake up to sunlight. But who needs that? Waking up in the daytime is overrated. Nothingâs more exciting than facing seven hours of cinder block walls and fluorescent overhead lighting after having driven to school in the dark.
4. Sleep-deprived kids are fun!
There are few things greater than starting off the week with a classroom full of kids who have yet to recover from losing an hour of sleep. Sleep-deprived kids are hyper or sluggish or both at the same time, and there are few things that teachers like more than challenging, unpredictable, exhausted students.
5. Itâs a chance to expand that ever-evolving skill set.
The two-plus weeks that it will take your students to adjust to the new time will be an opportunity to expand your comfort zone and test the boundaries of your patience. If you can engage a class full of students whose bodies wish they were still in bed, you can do anything! Itâs so nice to have this opportunity to grow as a teacher. Just think of how much your teaching will improve.
6. Who needs continuity?
You need something fun to break up those long weeks before spring break, right? Just when you thought that youâd have a few uninterrupted days of teaching, daylight saving time comes around. But since teachers thrive on interrupted routines, we take to this change like a duck to water! Change is fun.
7. Daylight after the workday is kind of awesome.
Coming home in the afternoon when there is still some sun in the sky reminds us of what our houses look like during the day. Itâs even possible that when you scramble to prepare for tomorrowâs classes, grade the stack of quizzes you brought home, and respond to emails from parents, youâll get to do it by natural light, maybe even on your back patio. Â
8. Experiencing the actual outdoors again is a good thing.
Just the idea of being able to go outside for some fresh air after work gives teachers the energy to make it through the last few months of the school year. You might even have time for (gasp!) a walk around the neighborhood when you get home. The next few months will likely hold days of testing, the rush to get it all in before the end of the year, countless class parties and special events, and students who need dragging across the finish line. You have to do what you can to take care of yourself, and maybe a little time in nature will make those standardized tests slightly less painful.
9. Teachers donât have to worry about losing an hour of sleepâtheyâll make it up in June.
Right?! Itâs only three short months away. But whoâs counting?
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