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The Pressure to Prove Yourself: Who Are You Trying to Convince?
Remember when you thought getting hired was the hard part? You survived the interviews, the reference checks, the questions about your classroom management philosophy, and the terrifying possibility that someone might ask you to explain how you differentiate instruction in 30 seconds or less. And then you got the job! Congratulations! Now it’s time to…
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Why Choose TRR Coaching?
There is no shortage of advice for overwhelmed educators. Take care of yourself. Set better boundaries. Leave work at work. Get more sleep. Say no. Drink water. Go for a walk. Get a planner. Buy another decorative basket in which to organize the things that are slowly stealing your will to live. There’s nothing wrong…
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Your Work is Unfinished. Your Day Can Still Be Done.
My brain loves finished business. Check the box. Send the email. Make the phone call. Put the thing away. Cross it off the list. Done. Ahhhhh. I know I am not alone in this, and I was intrigued when I learned that there is science behind our dislike for things that feel unresolved. The American…
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The Goal Isn’t Perfection. It’s Reconnection.
It is shockingly easy to forget that we are whole people beyond the roles we fill in a day. Teacher. Counselor. Administrator. Parent. Partner. Caregiver. Problem-solver. Keeper of the schedule. Finder of the missing Chromebook charger. From the moment we walk into school, our attention is pulled toward what needs to be taught, answered, corrected,…
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I Didn’t Hate Teaching. I Hated That I Could Never Put It Down.
I loved teaching. I also hated teaching. Both statements are true, although neither one tells the whole story. Recently, I made a list of the things I loved during my thirty years in the classroom and the guidance office—and the things I hated. The “love” column was long. I loved helping kids understand something that…
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Monday is Coming. It Doesn’t Get to Take Sunday With It
Why teachers experience the Sunday Scaries—and how to prepare for the week without living it in advance. A friend recently asked me about the “Sunday Scaries”—that creeping sense of dread that settles in when the weekend begins turning back toward the work week. You know the feeling. Sunday morning may start out pleasantly enough. You…
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Not Everything Deserves Your A+
I grew up in a Mid-Michigan farm family where work ethic was next to godliness. If there was work to be done, you did it. If you started something, you finished it. And you did it well. Those weren’t just expectations—they were the foundation of who we were. When I became a parent, it was…
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I Was Lost. For Years. And I Didn’t Even Know It.
People who knew me during my thirty years in education would probably have described me the same way. Hard worker. Determined. Idealistic. Pretty fun most of the time. They wouldn’t have been wrong. They just wouldn’t have known the whole story. Underneath all of that lived another version of me. Scared. Anxious. Lonely. A people…
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Don’t Let September Steal Your August
Somewhere around the last week of July, something strange begins happening to teachers. The pool floats are still inflated. The tomatoes in the garden are finally doing their thing. You still have sunscreen in your beach bag. And yet… Your brain has quietly wandered back into the school building. It’s arranging desks and reading class…
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The Prosecution Should Rest:How Our Own Thoughts Hijack Our Joy
Let’s play a quick game called Name That Profession. Who said this? “If everyone else would just do their job, mine wouldn’t be so hard.” Need another clue? “I’m over here busting my butt while other people are screwing around.” One more? “People just don’t seem to care about doing a good job.” Who said…
