Back to School Blues….or Back to School Views?
Yes, we all know it’s that time again. The dreaded back to school blues. I mean the commercials have been saying back to school since July! This is always followed by others who are not educators chiming in with “ Well you did have 2 months off” which I would love to reply with, well why don’t you try teaching, educating, problem solving, and crying every other week for half the salary of most. BUT….. this year I am choosing to not have that pessimistic attitude. I am choosing this year to have different views instead of the blues.
If you’ve been an educator for more than 5 years then you know every year is different but also the same. What do I mean by that? For example, you know you will have to work 8-2:30 or longer some days. You know you will have to go to boring PD’s. You know you will have at least one administrator or teacher take you past your limit, and you know you’ll have that one student bring you to your boiling point. So then why choose to stress over it? I encourage you to put this in the “already been there done that” pile. This means that you are a pro at conquering this part of your job. You know what it feels like therefore you know how to handle it. It’s all about the way in which you want to view the situation.
Repeat after me: This school year NOTHING is greater than my self-happiness and self-worth.
With that being said I have a challenge for you. Before you walk into the school building I want you to ask yourself, What is your meaning of an educator and are you fulfilling that? If you could block out all the noise and what if’s how do you think your day would go? Would your lessons be more fulfilling? Would you feel as though you accomplished everything on your to-do list. Were you able to eat lunch? Does it mean that you finally left on time? Are you worrying less about what other educators might think of you? Does it mean that you leave work at work instead of taking it home? Sit with yourself and write down whatever comes to mind. Now what I want you to do next is check off all the items that you have control over. Psstttt…you do have control over it, we are just made to think we don’t. For the items that you feel that you don’t have control over think about how you would like to handle that scenario if it comes up. What outcome would make you feel most at ease.
This year I am choosing to lead with my heart. Everything I do, everything I say will come from my heart because anything coming from my heart is pure and genuine. This year I am choosing to say no to tasks that are not directly linked to my job title and I am not going to feel guilty about it. This year I choose to not take student’s attitudes toward me personally because deep down I know they’re also just as confused as I am about life. This year I am choosing to create clear boundaries with my co-workers. This year I am choosing to have fun.
This is my meaning of an educator.
What’s yours?
This school year NOTHING is greater than my self-happiness and self-worth.