The Juggle is Real A Whimsical Journey to the Mythical Land of Teacher Self-Care By Andrea Johnson, M.Ed.
As I sit in my cozy living room, enjoying my day to day life of winter break--- the impending dread of heading back into the classroom weighs heavy on my heart. Teetering on the brink of burnout and the associated anxiety is nothing short of suffocating. Don’t get me wrong, I love my students, even the darlings who require extra grace and patience! However, I fear this may not be enough to get me by. A mere glance at the alarming statistics of fellow educators who are dropping out of the profession and moving on to a land where the grass is “greener” (and not because we gave it a curve to pass it!), I am frightened. I am mid-year, 13 years in and have more advanced degrees and certifications than I care to admit. I, too, fall into the large number of educators who are talking about other career paths. A recent google search led me to the neatoday.org statistic that 48% of teachers are leaving the field of education because of “Dissatisfaction” in the workplace. Perhaps increased demands, lack of support, lack of flexibility, increased demands and the list goes on, creates the perfect storm for educators. Educators would rejoice at a greater level of respect for teachers, an income that matches the work they do and their investment in their students’ daily and future lives, as well as true, foundational support rather than meaningless legislation wrapped in a pretty bow. However, that requires change on a greater societal level. We will not stop working towards those goals, but there are simple answers that we can do for ourselves in our daily lives to avoid “teacher burnout.” I believe that life is too short to be stressed out and constantly running on fumes alone. I want to work towards educational reform, but I also want to get out of the everyday rut of feeling like I want to quit and move on (to what, I am not sure). After much thought, I determined that the immediate answer is to make myself a priority and shift my mindset to include self-care. Until recently, I believed that self-care was “just not my thing” or some unattainable goal, which I would just not be able to master. I could not even come up with a list of things I could try-- I had to use the trusty Google and Pinterest and many other sources to cross reference ideas. I made lists and crossreferences and crossed-out and narrowed down. I made plans and backed out with other priorities taking precedence, or cancelled when I got in the way of myself and started doubting the validity of this crazy notion of “self-care.” Because I am a 4
