Bring Your Human to School

For those of us in any kind of newness this school year, whether it’s a new role, a new school, or a new curriculum, even the best of new adventures can be exhausting and overwhelming.

I keep telling people that I feel as though I’m wearing clothes that are too big for me or like I’m a baby deer on new legs.

It’s a special kind of tired. My husband actually woke me up the other night concerned that I didn’t look “alive” in my sleep. I was out cold. The kind of sleep that many of us experience as educators…we’ve given our all that day, every last ounce of effort and care, and when our head hits the pillow, it hits hard.

I’m naming this for us in the hope that perhaps someone will read this and know they are not alone. Because this feeling can be lonely and isolating if we let it become so. It’s easy to start believing that we should be feeling more competent, confident, and successful. It’s easy to start thinking that we are the only ones feeling this way or that other people have it “more together” than us so we should just keep this little secret to ourselves.

That’s what shame stories do. They pull us away from those we need most in challenging times, causing us to retreat or shut down, when often what we need most is simply each other.

Here are three ways I’m currently combatting educator fatigue:

1. Celebrate Progress: No Matter How Small

While I can’t do it all, I can do something. Every week I’m learning more and figuring out more. I just have to train my brain to see the progress. Our brains are more motivated by how far we’ve come than how far we have to go. This is true for our students as well which is why my definition of happiness in Legacy of Learning (chapter 1) is GROWTH.

2. Practice Gratitude

When I am feeling inadequate and insecure, which is pretty much every day at this point, I find that it helps me to start noticing and appreciating others. Instead of thinking about myself and how others are perceiving me, it’s helpful to thinking about others and what I appreciate about them and their meaningful contributions. Not only is this good for my well-being, but it’s a great way to grow the good in others which is what this work is really about in the end.

3. Be a Person not a Position

I loved this quote from George Couros this week, “I’m not an educator who happens to be a person. I’m person who happens to be an educator.” We are not our titles. Our titles are not us. I don’t want titles to get in the way of our connection and humanity. I get why we have titles. Titles allow us to organize and manage the work and orient ourselves on who to go to/when. But at the end of the day, we are all people. We are all, in fact, regardless of age, someone’s kid. And we are all (for the most part) doing the best we know how to do. So, let’s not forget to bring our human to school every day.