A Month in and Already A lot

Well, here we are. Somehow, we are already a month into the school year, and I feel like I blinked and August disappeared.

I haven’t written on the blog since summer, and there is a very good reason for that. This school year came in BUSY.

If you’re a teacher, you already know how the beginning of the year goes. New students, new schedules, getting back into routines, learning names, setting expectations, and trying to figure out the personalities sitting in front of you every day. That alone is enough to keep us busy.

But then there are the things you weren’t expecting. And I have had quite a few of those already.

Sometimes You Just Have to Figure It Out

Over the past few weeks, I have been asked to take on several things at work that I was not necessarily prepared for. Some of them caused me a lot of stress, especially while I was still trying to teach my own classes and keep everything else moving. At the same time, we were completing diagnostic testing in our reading classes along with the state diagnostic testing that happens every year. Testing means schedules are different, routines get interrupted, and there always seems to be one more thing that needs to be done.

Then I had to prepare a professional development presentation for our entire staff. I originally thought I would have more assistance with preparing everything, but that did not quite work out the way I expected. So, I did what teachers do all the time.

I figured it out.

Was I stressed? Absolutely.

Did I have moments where I wondered how I was going to get everything done? Definitely.

But I worked through it, prepared the presentation, and gave it my best. And you know what?

It went really well. There is something incredibly satisfying about getting to the other side of something that caused you so much stress and being able to say, “Okay, I did that.”

And We Got Some Good News

We are also starting to look at our baseline data, and so far, the results are actually better than we anticipated. I cannot tell you how good that feels. There is still plenty of work ahead of us, of course. It is only the beginning of the year. But having a starting point that is a little stronger than expected gives us something positive to build on. And right now, I will happily take the win.

I Can Love My Job and Still Feel Overwhelmed

This is something I think we need to say more often.

I love my job. I love what I do. And sometimes I am completely overwhelmed by it.

Both things can be true. Feeling stressed does not mean I do not appreciate my job. Feeling frustrated does not mean I do not care about my students. And admitting that I am tired certainly does not mean that I am any less committed to the work. It just means I am human.

Every school year brings something new. New challenges. New responsibilities. New expectations. And usually, a few unexpected hurdles that nobody mentioned during preplanning. 😂

We handle them the best way we know how. Sometimes beautifully. Sometimes while drinking coffee, praying, and staring at a very long to do list wondering where to even begin.

Either way, we handle them.

Right Now, I Am Resting

The good news is that I am writing this during a three-day weekend, and I am very grateful for the extra day. I am trying to actually enjoy it too. Not spend the entire weekend worrying about what is waiting for me when I go back. Not mentally running through my list over and over again.

Just resting.

Because one month down means there are still a lot of months ahead, and I need some energy left for those too! If your school year has started off smoothly, I hope it continues that way. And if your first month has been a little more chaotic than you expected, I hope things settle down soon.

Give yourself some grace. We are all figuring out this school year one day at a time.

Here’s hoping the next month is a little calmer than the first. 😊

In this together,

Nicky B. 💗

P.S. For my fellow coaches and teacher leaders: With so many things going on this year, I realized I needed a better way to keep track of everything I do throughout the day. So, I created an Instructional Coach Tracker to keep my coaching activities, PLCs, walkthroughs, meetings, and everything else in one place. I created it because I genuinely needed it myself, and so far, I’m loving having everything organized in one spot! I decided to add it to my TPT store in case it might make another coach’s life a little easier too. 💗

[Check out the Instructional Coach Tracker here]