Jaclyn Reuter - The Resilient Educator: Empowering Teachers to Overcome Burnout and Redefine Success

Copyright 2020 by Jaclyn Reuter.

Published by River Valley Publishing, LLC:
www.rivervalleypublishing.com

All rights reserved. This book is protected by copyright. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including as photocopies or scanned-in or other electronic copies, or utilized by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the copyright owner.

Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of the consumer or reader of this material. Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely unintentional.

The advice and strategies found within may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor the publisher is held responsible for the results accrued from the advice in this book.

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reuter, Jaclyn, 1989

The resilient educator: Empowering teachers to overcome burnout and redefine success / Jaclyn Reuter

ISBN 978-1-7352409-1-6 (pbk.) | ISBN 978-1-7352409-2-3 (hardcover) |

ISBN 978-1-7352409-3-0 (audiobook) | ISBN 978-1-7352409-0-9 (ebook)

1. TeachersReflective Teaching. 2. TeachersJob Satisfaction. I. Title.

LB1775.2 .R48 .R37 2020

371 R317 2020 2020912192

Edited by Rachel Garber

Author Photos by Kayla Taralson.

Cover Design by 100Covers.com

Interior Design by FormattedBooks.com

Printed in the United States of America.

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The Resilient Educator Reflection Journal is a companion to this book. It is designed to help you reflect upon your own practice, goals, and experience as you read.

Download the Resilient Educator Reflection Jou rnal here:

https://bit.ly/resilient-educator-journa l-download

CONTENTS

I would like to dedicate this book to the followi ng people.

My husba nd, Lucas.

You have brought joy to my life from day one. Im so grateful to have such a loving, fun, and supportive partner in my life. You are my cheerleader, my sounding board, and my safe place. Thanks for b eing you.

My daughters, Nora and Alice.

You two make me so proud, every single day. Thanks for helping Mommy achieve her dream. Now its your turn. Dream big, little ones. Ill be right her e to help.

My parents and teachers, past, present, a nd future.

I have reached this point because of you. Im called to this vocation because of the example you set for me. You have helped me reach for my potential, and have inspired me to do the same for my children and my students.

W hen we all chose to pursue a career in education, we knew it wouldnt be a walk in the park. We knew we were choosing a job that would come with extra hours and no extra pay. We were told this vocation was not for those who wanted a normal job. What we didnt know was just how hard it could be.

Somewhere down the line, a mentor teacher or a family member who is an educator may have shined some light on the realities of teaching today, but if you are anything like me, your young, idealistic self probably thought you were going to be different. Those things werent going to happen to you. You were going to change the world, one classroom of students at a time.

These idealistic, and frankly nave, versions of ourselves dreamed big dreams, poured our hearts and souls into our classrooms, our curriculum, and making our students feel loved and appreciated. We gave and gave until it became clear that something had to go. For many of us, that meant more hours with family sacrificed for the good of our students. It meant less time to dedicate to friends and hobbies and oftentimes, neglecting our own well-being. We pushed ourselves to show up every day for those kids, because they needed us.

If you are like me, you started to burn out. It probably happened a little bit at a time. You may have started struggling to get up in the morning or falling asleep at night. Maybe you started bringing even more pent up stress home. Maybe you stopped taking care of yourself in other ways. Whatever the case was for you, you may not have even noticed what was happening until you felt completely burnt out.

The process of teacher burnout looks different for a lot of us. For many teachers, it can be a slow process taking several months or school years. For some, it can hit you like a punch to the stomach on a random Tuesday. However it happens, teacher burnout can end our love for what we do. This problem affects so many of us, and believe me, bouncing back from this on your own can seem extremely daunting.

Thats why I wrote this book. I wrote it for you: the amazing teacher who thinks they cant do this anymore. You, the undervalued educator who has the potential to change the lives of hundreds or maybe even thousands more students before your time in the classroom is over. You, the teacher reading this who is afraid they arent effective in their job anymore. You, the selfless, loving, teacher who chose this career knowing full-well that this job was going to be one of the toughest things youd ever do. Despite all of that, here you all are, serving your students the way you do best, but providing them with a chance to learn in a place where they feel safe and valued, every day.

This profession needs you. Your studentspast, present, and futureneed you. I dont say that to try to guilt you into staying in education. But I think that if you picked up this book, you want to try to make this work. That tells me youre in this for the long haul, and that you may just need some new strategies to help you mana ge it all.

I have been through the struggle of teacher burnout. I have cried in my classroom, stayed up all night worrying about students, lost my passion for education, and yet, here I am, still teaching. I bounced back from my state of burnout, and you can too. You can put those feelings of negativity away and become an even more encouraging teacher for your students, because now you know what it feels like to want to quit when all hope seems lost. You can come back from this more energized and motivated than ever before. You will be able to empathize with your students in a new way because you know what it means to feel like youve failed and then come back even stronger. You can come out of this period of burnout in your life ready to take it all on again.

If you take nothing else away from this book, I hope you remember this: Going through teacher burnout does not mean you are a bad teacher. It doesnt mean this isnt your calling. It just means you need to take a step back and redefine what being a successful teacher means. It means you need to stop comparing yourself to other teachers who appear to have it all together. You need to be you, the teacher your students love and appreciate, even when they don t show it.

I hope that my story will help all of you rediscover your why, the reason we all get up and go to school every day when all we want to do is to stay home and sleep; the reason we keep trying to reach that one kid who pushes us away; the reason that we live for the ah-ha moments our students have when they finally understand that concept weve been drilling for weeks. Its for that reason that we became and have remained, teachers. I hope that my stories of how Ive grown as a teacher and learned to accept the things I cannot change will motivate you to look past the bad and embrace the good. As we all know, teaching is not for the faint of heart. Its for those whose hearts continue to grow Grinch-style every year, leaving enough room for each and every one of the students who walk through the door.