When I accepted a teaching position in the School District of Philadelphia, I knew that my work would be challenging.
The pandemic shut down in-person learning for a year and most students stayed home when schools went hybrid last spring. This has led to students falling behind in grade level content, learning loss, and severe impacts on social and emotional development. To put it bluntly, the kids are not alright.
Since I’m a new teacher, my colleagues are quick to remind me that this school year isn’t normal. In Philadelphia, mid year teacher resignations are up 200%.
Many of these resignations stem from the stress and demands of a job with limited resources to address the needs of our students.
Have you ever been in a workplace where you felt you had to put your own needs aside to care for everyone else? 🙋🏾♀️
We’ve all been there but the truth is, we can’t truly meet the needs of others if we don’t take care of ourselves. Before I can put on my students’ life jackets, I have to put my life jacket on, first.
Of course I learned this the hard way. A few weeks ago, my body tried to tell me that I was doing too much but I ignored all of the signs and kept pushing anyway. Not only did I not put my life jacket on first, I was basically passing out pretzels and Pepsi as my plane was going down.
I was forced to spend an entire weekend in bed to catch up on rest. It should have never gotten to that point.
I promised myself to never let that happen again so I’ve identified three non-negotiables to help me prioritize myself:
- Food: Eat breakfast before leaving the house and pack my lunch everyday.
- Social: Don’t go straight home after work everyday. Make it a point to meet up with friends or go to the coffee shop 1-2 days during the week.
- Wind-Down: This one is a work in progress but I would like to be off the computer by 8PM every evening. That gives me time to chat with friends, read for leisure, or start a new puzzle. Most importantly, I won’t talk about math or school after 8PM.
Of course there will be good days and bad days but having a plan in place makes such a big difference.
If you find yourself struggling to put yourself first, identify your non-negotiables and try sticking to them for just one day, then two days, and then a whole week! Let me know how it goes. And if you know a teacher, show them some extra love. We need it.
P.S. Congrats to everyone who ran the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K this past weekend!
