Happy New Year! I hope all of you have enjoyed your break from school. Hopefully, you are all feeling rejuvenated and ready to get back to the work of educating others.
For several months, I’ve been reading articles and watching videos about teaching being exhausting work and about educators feeling completely burnt out. Everything I have read, seen, and heard has resonated with me. Education is a demanding field. Educators are physically, mentally, and emotionally challenged by all aspects of teaching on a daily basis. If you’re an educator reading this right now, you know exactly what I mean — the planning, the prepping, the meetings, the crowded classrooms, the demands of our students’ parents and guardians, etc. Without education and educators, other fields of work could not exist. This is a hefty responsibility to carry daily. And, no matter how refreshed and rejuvenated we might be feeling about getting back into our classrooms after a winter recess, it can be so easy to slip back into being a physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted teacher.
This year, I’ve decided to light a new fire for myself. It’s not about feeling excited to teach (even though I’m absolutely excited to get back to my students). But, what I feel even more excited about are the actions I’m taking to keep myself from burning out. I’m of no use to my students if I’m too exhausted to meet their needs. I’ve known for years that I needed to do something to keep me from burning out. After experimenting with some strategies at the beginning of the school year, I feel I’ve finally developed some actionable steps to keeping up my physical, mental, and emotional energy. I’ve typed them out, and I keep them in my teacher planner where I can see them and be reminded of what I need to do. Rather than feeling exhausted this year, I feel calm and ready to teach every day.
If you feel like you could use those same reminders, I have a freebie available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I hope you find the reminders helpful. Anti-Burnout Freebie
Have a great 2020!!!
PinaRose Education 