We have all said it, heard it, know it. The past year has been a wild ride. Nothing is normal; everything has shifted. While I have navigated the crazy with my students, I find I am beginning to feel increasingly unsettled by this season rather than adapting to it. Things that have been important to me over the years as an educator and in my own personal growth have had to be put aside. There just is not enough time or energy remaining at the end of the day to push my own personal boundaries, to look for new opportunities and inspiration, to network with other educators who share my passions, and to grow myself professionally according to my pedagogical convictions. The limitations of pandemic protocols have made it more difficult to meet with fellow educators, to be energized through collaboration, and to simply be encouraged swapping stories of the day in the lunchroom. I expected it at the beginning of the pandemic last spring, but I did not anticipate it would last this long. We have figured out how to push through, to continue turning the cogs of the wheels of learning in our classrooms, whether in-person, hybrid, or virtual; however, our reserve tanks are beginning to run dry. How do we keep going? How do we get our collective groove back?
Anyone who has ever been an educator, who was truly committed to the growth of her students, knows this. Teaching is both exhausting and exhilarating. Long hours, myriad responsibilities, challenging behaviors, and the growing social-emotional needs of our students easily explain the exhaustion. Sharing in our students’ successes, the moments of discovering the right way to finally help a student gain understanding, the satisfaction of having made a difference in some way are all contributors to the exhilaration that the classroom provides. It is based on true, authentic connection. The ability to pour oneself into a labor of learning for the benefit of someone else is powerful stuff. I fear that in the disconnectedness of virtual classroom meetings, student quarantines, reduced interaction with other staff, and distance learning; the endless tasks of sanitizing, hand-washing, mask-enforcing, and social distancing; and the impossible workloads of creating both in-person and virtual lessons, synchronously and asynchronously, that engage students, meeting their diverse needs are draining us of the element of exhilaration. The burnout is real, and I am seeing its toll begin to push some of the best educators I know out of the profession. What can we do to renew the exhilaration, to restore our senses of calling, to refill our empty tanks, to stop the runaway train of disconnectedness?
I know that there are ways to connect on social media, to PLC with fellow educators virtually, and to use technology as a tool for engaging students in meaningful learning. I am actually passionate about the power of technology as a tool in learning, but it has its limitations. We can never replace looking a student in the eye and returning an unmasked smile to provide needed encouragement. The potency of sitting across the table from a colleague experiencing the same challenges cannot possibly be replaced by a Zoom call or Teams meeting. I am incredibly grateful for the technology that has allowed us to do the otherwise impossible, to meet the otherwise unmeetable, and to reach the otherwise unreachable, but we are losing some essential things as well. We must start making our way back, for the sake of our students and ourselves. I do not have any simple solution here, I just know we are on an unsustainable path. Teachers simply cannot maintain the pace and passion needed without the faces and fellowship required. For now, I hold on to hope, knowing I am not alone in my struggle. I will continue to seek genuine connection in the limited time I have available, to regain the sense of purpose and satisfaction this important call has given me for so long, and to push toward change to restore what we have lost. If I can offer encouragement to you, my friend and fellow educator, know that you are not alone. We are seeking our groove back together, even apart.
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