Our work in school leadership can often come in waves. Some days you are happily swimming to shore while other days you might feel as though it is taking all of your energy to stay above the water. The latter is often what March feels like.
There is something about March that has always felt like a difficult month for me, at least personally, as an educator. Maybe it's the impact of a long winter, access to less sunshine, or the absence of any scheduled downtime in the month. It's also the point where we are able to look back on a school year and see how much we have accomplished but at the same turn how much there is still to do.
But, the difference is the proverbial finish line that June brings. We all know, whether we like it or not, what we planned or were even assigned to accomplish this year is now connected to an imaginary stopwatch that is counting down that time. We can see the end to the year and that can be stressful.
What about all the things still left to do?
I've seen this every year of the last 34 years in education and still haven't figured out a way to prepare myself for it. But, I am trying harder to do so this year. Maybe this will be the year I can recognize that March is always hard. Always has been. This difficulty isn't a reflection of our abilities and efforts as educators. It's a reflection of how massive the work we do is!
Instead of counting all the things still left to do, maybe March is the perfect time to start counting all the things you've already done. Maybe instead of writing a new to do list, we force ourselves to write a gratitude list.
What are the top 10 things you are most proud of this year?
What will you remember most from this year?
Who has helped you tackle the work?
Let's reframe our thinking this March and stop to take a big, deep breath.
Our brains and hearts will be better for it.
Comments
Post a Comment