Teaching is not going to be easy for anyone this school year, maybe you can relate to the way that I’m feeling about it all.
I have been stressed and anxious about returning to school more than I honestly care to admit. I haven’t been sleeping, I’ve been grinding my teeth and having a constant feeling of a heaviness in my chest. Hello, stress! I’ve even been avoiding going into my classroom before we are required to be there. That is very unlike me!
The typical advice I’ve been given is:
“You’ll figure it out!”
“You’re a great teacher, this will be nothing for you!”
“Worrying won’t help anything…”
None of those are actually helpful. I can’t figure anything out, it is definitely going to be something and I’m not trying to worry on purpose. Ugh. And if another person says, “give yourself grace!” I might actually lose my cool.
You know how there have been a lot of phrases since Covid that are being overused? Give yourself grace is the one that I have had enough of.
Here’s the thing. Teachers really are amazing. We really are very capable and innovative, creative and just incredible. But that’s a lot of responsibility when it comes to the health and safety of our students. Especially when I can’t distance them in my classroom the way that I’m supposed to. Are people still going to say those upbeat phrases if a student in my class gets sick? Will they still support me or will they begin to wonder why I didn’t do enough?
My classroom is one of my favourite places to be. Teaching is when you’ll see me at my best. This year might not be amazing. It might not be my most favourite year to look back on in the years to come but I will try my best to make it a wonderful year for my students.
On a positive note, I’m (willingly) spending time scrolling through Instagram posts and Pinterest boards looking for creative ways to keep students engaged while sitting at their desks for the majority of the day. Even if you’re not feeling like a top notch teacher this year, I really hope you will still share your ideas with the world. We need them more than ever!
Whenever I see an idea that might work for me, I’ve been sending a little positive note to the person or leaving a comment to hopefully encourage them to share more of their ideas. We could all use a little more positivity in our lives so why not message someone with a quick thank you?!
In full honesty, the original title of this post was supposed to be Back to School Motivation but I quickly realized that I am not motivating anyone with this! If you’ve started back already I would love to hear from you! Maybe it’s going well and you’ve got a great experience to share? Maybe you’re crying in your car at the end of the day? Either way, you can feel free to reach out to me and let me know how it’s going for you. I truly would love to know and chat with you!
PS I promise that next week’s post will be more upbeat!
