My... How the Time Flies... When You Are Trying to Keep Your Head Above Water

 

Boom. I reached some goals, but it's not good enough. I'm still not happy. WT...???

Hey, Burnies! Thought I gave up did you? Figured I threw in the towel on the whole blogging thing? NOPE! In the past few months, I have been:

a. Moving into our new home.

b. Focusing on my family and getting settled into our AWESOME neighborhood.

c. Starting a new school year with 30 first graders.

d. Working on my career goals of becoming a Google Certified Educator Levels 1 & 2 by Christmas.

  Level 1? Check!

  Level 2? Taking the exam this week! 

  Google Trainer??? Yep! That's happening.

e. Trying new things as a Seesaw Ambassador so that I know what the hell I'm talking about when I present/facilitate about this game-changing app. 

....basically trying to keep my head above water like the rest of you. 

The list could go on, really... but that's not why you are reading...

With all that I have done, all I have learned, all that I still desire... I am lacking fulfillment. I love my students. We are trying new stuff together, failing all over the place, and loving every minute. However, I have a BURNING (no pun intended) desire to help educators love educating kids like I do. A NEED to assist teachers to weed through all that there is to do with technology and pick something to try. A mind-blowing excitement to help teachers narrow their focus to help them to realize how empowering technology can be for them and how simple changes can make a big impact on their lives.

But I need your help, readers. 

I need you to tell me what you are overwhelmed by. I don't want to do this for me, therefore, I don't want to assume that I know you. I don't want to be another 'sage on the stage' who gets up there and talks to hear myself talk. I don't want to tell teachers more vague lists of things they 'should' be doing such as, "give kids real-life experiences" and "make the classroom theirs," etc. YAWN. WE have heard all of those things with no simple "How-to's" attached. 

I want to be  someone who is giving teachers real, simple tools and tricks that can help them to leave the classroom at a decent time AND I MEAN LEAVE, not take it all home and work on it until 11:00 pm on their couch with a half bottle of wine every night. I want to be the coach who helps you navigate through the endless possibilities that you have as a leader of youngsters to help them (and you for that matter) be more productive and less passive. 

YOU have got to tell me what you want, need, desire to help you to be more fulfilled as a fellow educator and human. 

This is me putting myself out there, letting you know that I am ready and willing to listen to anything you have to say about how you are not being supported or how you are being 'supported' but by 'support' you mean more and more and more is being asked of you with no way of knowing how to actually put it into practice. 

Let's do this. Burn on!

The Way Some Burned-In Teachers Think About Summer Is Broken

Go Ahead, Work All Summer... I'll Be Over Here, Enjoying Life.

Today's question comes from Melanie, a fourth grade teacher from Idaho. She writes: 

"I've been teaching for 11 years and I am so burned out by all of the changes that seem to happen in my corporation each year. One year, they change our curriculum maps all around, the next year maybe I get moved a grade level, one year we went 1-to-1 with technology. I know that during summer break I should be relaxing and recharging, but there seems to be something that comes up to rock my world each year. I spend each summer working in my classroom getting ready for the 'next big thing' that is coming. Am I wrong? Should I not go into school?"

Since, I am on summer break, I am going to make this short and sweet, Melanie. Yes, you are wrong and no, you should not be in that building. Don't even go near it. 

Now, before some of you start chasing me with pitchforks and torches while telling me I am the worst teacher in the world, let me explain my answers a little bit. 

1. What I mean by 'wrong' is 'misinformed'.

Listen, we will all naturally think about school over the summer. I mean, it's our JOB to plan ahead and for the most part, we know what we will be getting ourselves into in the fall. However, if you are like me at all, you know that sometimes there is a difference between 'this is happening in August' and what REALLY happens in August. Things don't always go as planned and I would be in a hole in the ground had I spent all summer preparing for things at my old corporation that I was told 'were happening' and NEVER DID. 

If things are really coming down the pipe in August, your administration should be working on the details over the summer to help you succeed. Not you. Don't do their job for them. They are contracted more days than you for a reason. 

2. What I mean by 'you should not be in that building' is exactly what I said. Stay away. Far away. 

I want you to think of school in the summer as a family member or friend that you rarely see. Isn't it so much sweeter when you get to see your favorite cousin or long, lost roomy from college after an extended period of time? Trust me on this, you will be so much more excited to go back and kick butt if you wait at least 5 weeks. Do it. Walk away and don't look back for a month. Your students won't notice the difference and you can focus on YOU. As my principal always tell me, "BREATH." 

Burn on!

The First Step in Becoming Burned-In is Admitting That You Are Burned-Out: Turning Shame into Sharp Focus

Step 1: Admit That  You Are Burned Out

When I was feeling burned-out and hating life, I felt 100% alone and isolated. I didn't feel that it was acceptable to feel the feelings that I was feeling. I didn't talk to anyone about them, even my husband, because he was sick of hearing it. I knew that I was an awesome teacher. Students, other teachers, and parents told me all the time. They showered me with gifts and compliments, and although it used to fuel my fire, I then found myself numb to it. 

It wasn't until I started doing some Google searches that I realized that, not only were other teachers feeling the same way, there was actual research being done about it. Now, until the last few weeks, I had skimmed some of the articles and then closed out thinking, "Okay, I'm not alone, but these people are full of sh@#!"

Recently, I have been doing some deep research about being burned-out online and it is helping me so much! I am becoming sharply focused on my attitude and behaviors as a burned-in teacher. After reading eight articles (you will find the links below), here are the biggest take-aways that I have for you to reflect on about YOURSELF as an educator:

Potential Causes of Teacher Burn-Out:

1. Your students don't seem to care.

2. You feel you are disciplining more than teaching.

3. The pressure to perform is high and your workload is even higher.

4. You are experiencing constant changes in expectations and standards.

5. You feel you are being over-evaluated.

6. You are constantly dealing with colleagues who are less then fun to work with.

7. You have low self-esteem.

8. You are working for administrators who are terrible managers.

9. You are confused about your role as a teacher.

10. Your working conditions are bad.

Signs You are Burned-Out:

1. You take a lot of days off of work

2. You don't share or seek great ideas.

3. When you do converse, you are complaining.

4. You have lost that "spark".

5. You are exhausted.

6. You rarely smile or laugh (especially at school).

7. You are anxious.

8. You feel overwhelmed.

9. You seek collaboration and can't find anyone willing to work with you.

10. You isolate yourself.

11. You feel that everything is an emergency.

12. You feel numb to feeling any emotions for students or other teachers.

13. You take forever to get out of bed to go to work.

14. You despise staying after school to do work in the classroom.

15. You feel severe annoyance about every little thing.

16. You use planning time to search for jobs outside of education.

Step 2: Take Action

Possible Solutions:

1. Be more playful.

2. Be present in your teaching.

3. Decide what you want to be and who you want to be.

4. Be an actor. (Fake it!)

5. Embrace the uncertainty.

6. Find balance.

7. Search yourself. What do YOU love to do?

8. Grow relationships in and out of school.

9. Show gratitude.

10. Heal. Know these feelings will pass if you want them to and you will come out stronger.

Find Inspiration:
1. Google 'Teacher Burn-Out'. Read about burnout and solutions.
2. Find TED-ed Talks.
3. Find a hashtag on twitter that inspires you or find great people to follow. (follow me on Twitter @burnedinteacher)
4. Find funny teacher memes.
5. Find a group of teachers online to share triumphs with.
6. Decide what is important to you and what is not.
7.Plan activities in your off time that have nothing to do with teaching.

Resources:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-burnout-four-warning-signs-nicholas-provenzano 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/reboot-resources-for-teacher-inspiration-monica-burns

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/rediscovering-your-fulfillment-as-teacher-allen-mendler

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/05/20/ctq-pillars-signs-of-solutions-for-burnout.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/12/teacher-the-day-i-knew-for-sure-i-was-burned-out/

http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Educ/CAMHPS/Coping%20with%20teacher%20burnout.pdf

http://www.nafme.org/teacher-burnout-is-real-signs-and-how-to-avoid-it/

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-tips-avoiding-teacher-burnout-mary-beth-hertz

I hope that recognizing the signs is helpful to you and your journey to become burned-in again. Now, take the next step and TAKE ACTION! For me, taking action is simply enjoying my summer vacation with no thoughts about school for weeks on end. I love my school and my kids, but I am done for now.

FYI: There are MANY more articles out there on the topic of 'Teacher Burn-Out'. I strongly encourage you to read all you can about it. I am finding new articles every day. They are extremely confirming and refreshing to read. Plus, you may find out (after reading about someone else's teaching life) that you don't have it nearly as bad as you think you do. 

Email me signs that you know you are burned-out. Tell me about your situation. Share your shame so you can become sharply focused on fixing this. You can become burned-in again!

Burn on!
Amber

A Skill Every Burned-Out Teacher Should Have- And Why

I'm No Pinterest Board.

You will not walk into my room and be in awe of how beautiful it is. You will not marvel at my hand-drawn pictures and trendy purchased signs or charts and think to yourself, "Wow. I wish I was as creative as her." I'm no Pinterest Board full of crafty, DIY  beauty, and I don't strive to be. I am organized and practical. I don't believe in fluff, and I don't believe in spending hours of unpaid time and hundreds of dollars of my own money on buying fabric and paint to make a room look perfect. But I do believe in a healthy, safe, and creative environment for my kids. 

This post is in response to a question from Brian. He is a 4th year teacher in a middle school. Here is his question:

"So, you said that you have been teaching for one year at this new school, and you are getting rid of stuff? How much 'stuff' do you have? Is your room a total disaster?"

Aside from feeling a little self-conscious about your very poignant question delivery, you ask some very good questions. To answer your questions quickly, yes. I have acquired stuff this year. And, no, my room is anything BUT a disaster, however, it has been 'lived in' this year and needs some reorganization and rethinking. Here are some pictures from yesterday:

If you have been reading my posts from the very beginning, you know that this is my first year in my new corporation. Before this, I taught for 8 1/2 years at another corporation, quit to take a position in a non-profit that failed 6 months later. That is the VERY short of it, however, you should know that one reason I have so many things is because I did bring some stuff with me from my other school that I didn't know for sure I would use. After one full year of teaching 1st graders again, I now know what I don't need anymore.

When I was burned-out a few years ago (the first time), I found an outlet. I learned what I could do at school to give me a spring in my step again, if only for a short time... pitching and organizing. It is my natural love. I found this skill to be extremely fulfilling and I now look forward to it all the time.

The skill I am talking about in my title for WONDERful Wednesday this week is: FIND WHAT YOU ARE NATURALLY GOOD AT. FIND YOUR NATURAL PASSION. LATCH ONTO IT AND MAKE THAT YOUR FALL BACK WHEN YOU FEEL YOU ARE LOSING CONTROL.

If my students and I are having a particularly rough day, I stop everything and we clean our desks. They clean theirs and I clean mine. We go through EVERYTHING. I'm talking folders, supply boxes, and even our book boxes. When we are done, we have a fresh start and it is worth the time taken. I am instantly in a better mood.

Your passion may not be to put on a circus performance for your kids to teach them about fractions. (For some of you, it is. That's okay too.) If your passion is reading books to your kids, then make that they way that you teach. If you are naturally good at telling stories, then THAT, my friend, is where you have it.

No, my classroom does not turn heads for it's perfectly straight bulletin boards and apple theme, but my kids know where everything is and they are taught that being organized is one of the keys to success. Everything that is in my room serves a specific purpose. THAT is MY passion. It may not be yours, but that is what pulls me out of a rut. That is my skill that people notice.

Find YOUR skill. Can't find it? You had it at one time. You can find it again. Finding your skill will give you more purpose than just 'showing up' and 'getting through the day.' Finding your skill and sharing it with the world is what makes you then best teacher that YOU can be. Take action and take control by putting your skill into action in your classroom in some way.

Thanks so much for your question, Brian! I hope this helps you to understand that the need to declutter doesn't just apply to hoarders. It applies to all of us. My question back to you is: What is YOUR skill? What are you passionate about BESIDES teaching?

As always, check me out on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest @burnedinteacher! Send me your questions or comments by emailing me at support@burnedinteacher.com.

Comment below and tell me what skill you have that you are energized by and excited to do when school life is hanging you out to dry!

BURN ON!

My Favorite Part of 'The End of the School Year'

Start Planning for Next Year by Purging!

As I was researching End of the Year for Teachers, I came across this great article of questions, from mindsinbloom.com. It has really great questions to ask yourself as you close out the school year.

http://minds-in-bloom.com/2012/05/20-teacher-end-of-year-reflection.html

Here are my favorite questions from this article that I challenge you to ask yourself this week (My absolute faves are in red.):

1. What is something you tried in your classroom this year for the first time? How did it go?
2. What is something you found particularly frustrating this year?
3. What is something you would change about this year if you could?
4. What has caused you the most stress this year?
5. What were your biggest organizational challenges this year?
6. What was the biggest mistake you made this year? How can you avoid making the same mistake in the future?

I chose the two in red because these are the questions that I will continue to ponder and try my hardest to fix, first in my mind, and then take action on over the summer so I can set myself up for success in July and August. 

If you are doing your best to take last week's challenge and plan the next week this week, you could potentially be planning for the first week of school already by asking yourself these questions. I know I am! This week, I will be taking before and after pictures of my classroom as I do my FAVORITE organizational activity... PURGING!

Decluttering is a great way to find yourself. It will also help you to reevaluate your teaching. You may find some things that you used to use 10 years ago and see how far you have actually come in your teaching strategies. You may also find some old friends that you want to bring back out into your classroom setting! Don't be afraid to pitch things if you haven't used them this year. Just get rid of them. Clutter is not good for anyone. It bogs you down and makes you feel overwhelmed, and that just ads to your feelings of burning out.

I plan on getting rid of my desk, as it is just a center for clutter. I NEVER sit there and it's just wasting space. I also have a lot of things that I just jammed in my closets after moving into my classroom last year and haven't used this year. Those things will be meeting their maker this week as well.

What are you doing this week to set yourself up for success next year, already? I challenge you not to just "get through" the last couple of weeks of school. Start thinking of how you can TAKE ACTION to have a better school year next year. Who knows? You may actually look forward to starting a new year; refreshed, clutter-free, and ready to take action on the many other ideas that I have to share with you this summer to BURN YOU IN!

As always, you can email me to tell me or show me before and after pictures from YOUR classroom! Follow me on Twitter @burnedinteacher or LIKE Burned-In Teacher on Facebook by searching Burned in Teacher.

BURN ON!

Your Questions About Turning Burned-Out Into Burned-In ANSWERED

Don't Get Stuck on the BURNED-OUT Escalator:

3 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW To START Burning IN

I am so EXCITED about all of the email responses that I received this week regarding becoming a teacher that LOVES going to work again. Some teachers have been teaching for 20+ years and others JUST GRADUATED and are already terrified about what lies ahead next fall.

Most questions and comments centered around a single topic: WHERE TO START.

My friends, my answer to you is JUST. START. 

TAKING ACTION and taking control over your future as an educator is 100% up to YOU. You can have a terrible principal, an even worse assistant principal, colleagues that want to drag you down with them, and students that believe their calling in life is to make you miserable and all you have to do is make a simple decision: become the teacher you never wanted to be or beat the status quo.

IT'S AS SIMPLE AS GETTING OFF THAT ESCALATOR. Watch the video below to see what I am talking about.

I LOVE this video. I have shown it for years; to my colleagues as a team leader when we were trying something new within our grade level and even to my 3rd graders at the beginning of the year as they were learning how to be proactive and solve their own problems.

This video encompasses everything about becoming BURNED-IN. My friends, it is all up to you to love your life as a teacher again. No one can change your attitude but you.

However, if you just can't fathom where to start in your quest to get out of the hole you have sunk yourself into, here are 3 tips to launch you out of that hole and into orbit:

1. Make a list. Check it twice.
First, I challenge you to make two lists. One of things you HATE, I mean down right DETEST, about your life at school right now. Go ahead. Do it now.

Then, highlight all of the things within your control. I've said it before, you can control most if not all of the problems that you have in your teaching life, so I really want you to focus on the big hates to even the smallest of annoyances.

Finally, make another list of these things you hate in number order of what you can control at this very minute or tomorrow morning to what may take a few weeks, months, or years to change.

For example, you may hate standardized testing most of all. You know you can't stop it, and it makes you cry thinking about it. You can't stand watching these future leaders and innovators being subjected to such patronization as a bubble exam for hours on end. So maybe you should think about transferring to Kindergarten or 1st grade, where the kiddos aren't tested so heavily. Email your principal or other principals within your district tomorrow and let them know that you are interested in making a grade-level change, should one come about. This change could take a year or two, so it should go on the bottom. On the other hand, maybe things in your room just don't flow, layout wise, the way that you wish they would. So, put that on the top of the list of things you can do this week!

2. Visualize.
Now, get another piece of paper or create a timeline on your computer. TO THE MINUTE, I want to look at how you are spending time in your school on a typical day. I'm talking from the moment you walk in the door in the morning, to when you leave at night.

Where do you spend your lunch hour?
When do you take your kids to the bathroom?
What do you spend your time doing before school starts, during your prep, and after the kids leave every day?

Again, I'm going to go back to that list that you made. What subjects or time blocks do you dread each day? What can you do to TAKE ACTION and change how you are spending your time so that you are excited about your day, instead of uninspired? Are you wasting your time in the teacher's lounge during lunch, complaining about your principal or students?

Visualize what your IDEAL day would look like with your kids. What do you WISH you could get done at school? What are things that you would love to work into your day, but just haven't done? What can you take out of your day that is monotonous to you? Chances are, if you are bored by it, so are your students.

3. Try, Fail and Try Again.
Tomorrow, go to school. Close your door. Shhhhhhh....this is where the real fun begins...Try some of those things you've been longing to do. Try. You will probably fail. But TRY AGAIN. I beg you! Try your DAMDEST to make changes in your space: Your classroom. You don't have to tell anyone. Try everything. The only limit is YOU.

And, my friend, if you are working in a building that finds out that you are trying some things and they treat you like you just committed a capital murder in the cafeteria, it may be time for you to TRY looking for a different place to become more burned-in.

Bottom line. Get. Off. That. Escalator. Now.
YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR TEACHING DESTINY.

I can't wait to hear more questions this week as the school year winds down and as more and more future educators are entering the field.

Leave a comment below about what you are going to try TOMORROW. Email me your lists! I want to see your starting-off points! Tell me your triumphs and failures at support@burnedinteacher.com. I am here for YOU! Also, follow me on Twitter @burnedinteacher, to see what I am using to keep myself burned-in!

Burn on!
Amber

Sharpening MY Saw: Looking Out for #1, So I Can Help #2 BURN IN: Part 7 of I Was Burned-Out

When I finally started to pull myself out of my second “funk” back in January, I started to do a lot of soul searching. As I started questioning my wants and needs as a person, I started thinking more selfishly. When I say that, I don’t mean that I became an egotistical jerk. I didn’t go around saying, “I’m doin' ME!” That’s not at all what I mean at all. Or do I???

Stephen Covey says in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that,

“To be effective, we must devote the time to renewing ourselves physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially. Continuous renewal allows us to synergistically increase our ability to practice each habit.”

For me, this meant spending time creating goals and making plans for MY future in many DIFFERENT areas of MY life. My personality is not one that lends itself to being happy in one spot for long. Whether it be sitting in the same place or staying within the same job or home for an extended amount of time. It was time for me to ACCEPT who I really am and realize that, although I am in a school that is allowing me to grow as a professional now, I am ready to expand my personal and professional growth in other ways. As soon as I decided that I was in control of my own destiny, my attitude improved even MORE! I am in search of what Tony Robbins calls, “CANI” the need for Constant And Never-ending Improvement.” (I began reading Awaken the Giant Within, by Anthony (Tony) Robbins in January. This is another MIND BLOWING book about how our daily decisions change our destiny!)

“Sharpening the Saw” may seem to be all about improving your skills as a teacher, a cook, a mom, etc. but actually, sharpening the saw has more to do with growing YOU, as a whole. Constantly focusing on one area of your life will only lead to burn-out, in my opinion. That’s what I believe started to lead me down the path that ultimately sunk me. (Insert all of the waves of panic and stress that consistently came from my previous workplace before, I took action.) I was thinking only about my life as a teacher. I wasn’t in a place where I imagined that I COULD do anything but teach.

When I was in a PLACE where I had SPACE to grow, that is when my mind was open to all of MY abilities. When YOU are in a place where you are allowed to ask questions, make mistakes, and truly collaborate, YOUR mind can be opened too. Again, this goes back to my VERY FIRST POST last week when I said that, although it is important that our State and administration focus on student growth, they are leaving out the most important part of that growth. If they are not allowing educators to have SPACE and OPPORTUNITY to grow, they won’t. Period. Teachers will either A. Do what I did originally and QUIT or B. Be the most miserable individuals in the building and they are the MOST IMPORTANT BRIDGE between CONTENT and KIDS!

I challenge YOU. Make a list of all of the things that are making YOU UNHAPPY. Think of all of the things that you HATE and that are BURNING YOU OUT. Do it! How many of those things do you feel are out of your control? Count them. Here’s the punchline…

THEY ARE IN YOUR CONTROL. YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR SITUATION IN ANY ONE OF THOSE AREAS.

You may have to get creative. You may have to put a lot of time and effort into some things and for others, it may be a simple phone call that you need to make. The MOMENT that I decided not to be the VICTIM of my own previous decisions, is when I started making changes. Some BIG, some small. Here are a list of a couple of my current goals that are SHARPENING MY SAW DAILY:

1. I am CRAVING to connect with other professionals who are feeling BURNED-OUT or are afraid that their fire is slowly dying. I want you to be as excited to go to work as I am lately. I went from crying in my car on the way to work to thinking about my job as a catalyst for GREAT THINGS to come in my life, therefore affecting my ability to be a great teacher, employee, and co-worker.

2. I have begun my Google Education Training! Google is one of the tools that I have used this year to seriously simplify and improve my collaboration, planning, and teaching. I was so inspired by a conference that I went to in April that I started training on my OWN! Now that is BURNED-IN!!

3. I started THIS BLOG! I haven’t written in YEARS. This is one of the ways that I am trying to grow myself. Through sharing my journey, my triumphs and my failures I am hoping to help YOU. MY burn-outs have made me a better person, not just a better teacher. I have SO MUCH to IMPROVE and am so excited!. I have the DESIRE to improve. I can’t wait to share my wins and losses with you!

If you don’t know where to start with “Sharpening Your Saw” as a teacher, please let me know what I can do to HELP YOU. I am CRAVING to help others, like me, who have struggled or are currently struggling with HOW TO IMPROVE THEIR BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDE in their classrooms and schools. Please email me at burnedinteacher@gmail.com and tell me YOUR story and what YOU need that you are not currently getting in your life to improve your outlook. You can follow me on Twitter @burnedinteacher to see what’s up in my classroom and online as I reach my goal of becoming a GOOGLE INNOVATOR!

That’s it! That’s the LAST post of my plunge into blogging series of “I Was  Burned Out…” Although I won’t be blogging every day anymore, I am so excited about continuing to share my journey of “CANI” (Thanks, Tony!) with you weekly!

BURN ON.