Overcoming Teacher Burn Out

Hey there teacher friends!  I hope you are enjoying every minute of your Christmas break.  I don't know about you, but we went a full 5-days this past week.  Talk about #teachertired! I have to say, my kiddos did really well considering all the sugar and distractions going on this week.

This week also marked the anniversary of something that almost ended my teaching career.  Something many teachers don't talk about until it's too late.  Something taboo, but VERY real.  Teacher Burn Out.  If you've been teaching for more than 1 day, you know what I'm talking about.  The exhaustion.  The feeling like you will never be caught up with #allthethings.  The guilt, mom guilt, wife guilt, teacher guilt, anything guilt.  The pressure from administration to keep raising the rigor.  The email from a disgruntled parent that makes you want to crawl in a ball and cry.  The long hours you spend planning and prepping.  The feeling like you have no life other than school... I could go on and on, right?

Friends, teacher burn out happens to the best of teachers.  No one is immune, especially in our world of social media such as Instagram and Pinterest.  A teacher can feel like there is no end in sight.  I know this because I was one of those teachers.  I used to work 60+ hours a week to the point of exhaustion to make everything perfect and fun for my kiddos.  I tried tirelessly to keep up with the "Teacher Jones" so to speak.  I ended up working myself into teacher burn out and it almost cost me my career.

I want you to know that you *CAN* get through teacher burn out.  It is possible, because I did!  And I want to share my story in hopes that it helps other teachers.  I created this blog to share my journey of teacher burn out to living a happy, healthy, and balanced #teacherlife.  I'm not an expert.  I'm a teacher just like you, speaking from my personal experience. I hope you join me for the ride!  :)