You know the age old tale of what it’s like to be a first, second or even third year teacher and all the hustle and grind that it is. You get to work before 6 AM and you leave sometime after five or 6 PM and probably still have more papers to grade or lessons to plan once you get home and a lot to do on the weekends. And that’s just to keep your head above water.
As if those first years of teaching aren’t bad enough it’s as if the universe looked at me and said just wait. At the start of my fourth year of teaching I became a mother and everything changed.
Suddenly what had been my absolute top priority, which was teaching even above my marriage, sad to say it but true because I’m such a workhorse and so professionally focused, but motherhood shook the bedrock, if you will, of my priorities. And I had no clue how to deal with that when my identity had been so wrapped up in who I was as a teacher.
And that is where this episode comes into play. Really that is what has inspired this episode and a lot of my thinking around the subject of being both a teacher and a parent.
In fact, after listening to this episode you will be encouraged as a teacher mom or teacher dad, feeling heard and seen knowing the impact of the two amazing roles you play on this earth.
Now you may be someone who is not a parent yet or doesn’t plan to be but I do hope that this episode gives you a glimpse into the struggles of what it is to be both a parent and a teacher because those are two very unique roles that an educator could play at some point in their lives.
It’s also important because, and here’s the truth, you’re essentially raising a lot of children not just your own and so to balance those, both with your time and in your mindset and how you are emotionally, is no easy task and so I hope that this episode can be an encouraging one for you but also a practical one in helping you take on both of these amazing roles.
Before we get started though if you know of a teacher who is also a parent I would so love it if you would share this episode with them. Click on the share button where you’re listening and you can send it to them via email or in a text message letting them know “hey this episode was made for you.” Plus I would so appreciate you helping us get into the ears of more teachers with our message of encouragement and sustainability in their daily teaching lives.
Let’s get to it.
SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/the-struggles-of-teacher-mom-life
SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher
FLIPPED CLASSROOM STARTER KIT: https://www.teachonamission.com/starterkit
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