Teaching can be, especially around this time of year, a taxing profession. Very few professions cycle like ours does each year, starting over with a new crop of clients each fall. Good advice for any teacher in May is to take care of yourself and do something on a weekend or a week night that has nothing to do with school.

Houston has some of the best museums and arts opportunities for incredibly reasonable prices. Did you know that the Museum of Fine Arts Houston is free on Thursdays courtesy of a wonderful grant from Shell? Also, the Holocaust Museum is free every Thursday from 2 to 5 p.m., as well as the Buffalo Soldiers Museum from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Alley Theater has incredibly reasonable ticket prices, and Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” is playing there through May 21.  Take a night off from grading papers or setting up tomorrow’s science experiment and feed your creative soul. Remember to enjoy yourself and take time to decompress. Summer is almost here.

(Contributed by Kelly Tumy, curriculum director for English, language arts and social studies, HCDE’s Teaching and Learning Center)