Balancing the EDU Life

By Erin Kiger

A career in education is one of the most rewarding fields you can enter into. You have the power to positively impact numerous lives years after someone has left your classroom and/or building.

A career in education can also be one of the most challenging fields you can enter into. You may feel isolated, feel torn between persona

• Language: English
• Publisher: EduMatch
• Release date: Oct 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953852526

Book preview

Balancing the EDU Life

Balancing the EDU Life

Erin B. Kiger

EduMatch

Copyright © 2021 by Erin B. Kiger

Published by EduMatch®

PO Box 150324, Alexandria, VA 22315

www.edumatchpublishing.com

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All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact [e-mail].

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These books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantities of 10 or more for use as premiums, promotions fundraising, and educational use. For inquiries and details, contact the publisher: [e-mail].

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ISBN: 978-1-7322487-2-4

Contents

Introduction

#balancetheedu

Don’t Try This Alone

by Erin Kiger (@EBGTech on Twitter and Instagram)

Stuff and Things

by Ally Somma (@mrs._somma_squad on Instagram)

In One Paragraph

by Brandan Somma

Growth is Messy

by Elizabeth Merce (@EMercedLearning on Twitter and Instagram)

Grad School in a Year

by Hannah Sansom (@ HannahJSansom on Twitter and @h.sansom on Instagram)

Shimmer, Glitter, and Lights

by Heidi Carr (@carr_8 on Twitter and @carrificclass on Instagram)

I’m Worried About Educators

by Doreen Bonde (@doreenbonde on Twitter)

Finding Your Way

By Dr. Jacie Maslyk (@DrJacieMaslyk on Twitter)

Find Your Harmony

Lifeship Balance

by Laura Steinbrink (@SteinbrinkLaura on Twitter and Instagram)

Balance is Found Oddly by Three

by Mike Earnshaw (@EduChefEarnshaw on Twitter)

Here’s My Secret to Balance...

by Paige Karetny (@sunflowerpaigey on Twitter and Instagram)

The Balance Myth

by Dr. Sam Fecich (@SFecich on Twitter and Instagram)

The Black Dot

by Dr. Suzie Henderson (@Suzie_Henderson on Twitter)

Balance: So What?

by Traci Bonde (@tr_bo on Twitter and Instagram)

#jugglethestruggleedu

It’s Okay To Walk Away

by Alexes Terry (@twstedteaching on Twitter and @twistedteaching Instagram)

Eat. Sleep. Teach. Repeat.

by Ashley Pierce (@spiceupmyteaching on Instagram)

Big Sister Teacher

by Ellie Griffith

Mom of the Student (& Teacher)

by Maggie Griffith

The Hasty Juggle

By Desmond A. Hasty (@dhasty01 on Twitter and @picturedhasty01 on Instagram)

Taking Teacher Mom to a New Level

by Becca Kubo

Survival Mode

By Erin Kiger (@EBGTech on Twitter and Instagram)

The Buzz about Balance

by BreAnn Fennell (@PlayYay on Twitter and @breann.fennell on Instagram)

A Higher Calling

by Craig Klement (@craigklement on Twitter and Instagram)

What the Heck is Balance?

by Dene Gainey (@dene_gainey on Twitter and @journeytotheyinyou on Instagram)

Failing a Little at Everything

by Destiny Huggins (@MrsHugginsClass on Twitter and @msdmhugginsjourney on Instagram)

Mind and Body

by Don Sturm (@SturmDon on Twitter and Instagram)

The Worthier Part

by Andrew West (@desertgranite on Twitter)

Our Story

by Holly and Ashby King (@hollysking on Twitter and Instagram)

Don’t Go To School on Thanksgiving

by Jennett Fassnacht (@jmfassnacht on Twitter and @jennettfassnacht on Instagram)

No Sleep Until We’re Champions

by Jesse McNulty (@mrnultisanerd on Twitter)

In Their Shoes: A Reflective Piece

by Darius Phelps (@dphelps113 on Twitter and @mr.dphelps on Instagram)

My Self Care Journey

by John Martinez (@jmartinez727 on Twitter and Instagram)

Water Fills Buckets...Eventually

by LaQuisha Johnson (@johnsonfortutor on Instagram)

Two Sides of An Equation

by Marisa Rickel (@missmanocchio on Twitter)

The Broken Plate

by Maureen Hayes (@mhayes611 on Twitter and Instagram)

Lights. Camera. Action.

by Shirley Poitier (@thehopegalore on Instagram)

Husband of a Professional Teacher

by Tony Kiger (@tigerkiger on Instagram)

There’s No Balance, There Are Priorities

by Erin Kiger (@EBGTech on Twitter and Instagram)

You Are Not Alone

by Megan Cwiakala

Being Fully Me

by Derek Witmer (@Derekwitmer379 on Twitter and @mrwitmer22 on Instagram)

This is Your Captain Speaking

by Joelle Massari, NBCT (@JoelleMassari on Twitter @massari_magic on Instagram)

There is NO Balance, But You Can Bounce Back!

by Melody McAllister (@mjmcalliwrites on Twitter and Instagram)

Burnout Versus Balance

by Dr. Heather Michel (dr.michel_coaches on Instagram)

Lesson in Hope

By Maggie Cox (@MaggieJCox on Twitter and @maggiejcox on Instagram)

What Works For Me May Not Work For You

by Rachelle Dené Poth (@rdene915 on Twitter and Instagram)

The Next Chapter...

by Dr. Sarah Thomas (@sarahdateechur on Twitter and Instagram)

When You Want It All

by Scott Nunes (@MrNunesteach on Twitter)

Teaching, Kids, Sports, and Life

by Tika Epstein (@tikaee on Twitter and @epsteinkids on Instagram)

Seesaw

by Valerie Sousa (@ValerieSousa7 on Twitter and @valerie_sousa Instagram)

Violet Overloaded

by Violet Fenton

But You Could Be a Doctor

by Dr. Cathy Trimble (@ctrim41522 on Twitter)

Still Struggling...Keep Struggling

by Erin Kiger (@EBGTech on Twitter and Instagram)

Introduction

Hello! Welcome to Balancing the EDU Life! To begin, I’d just like to say thank you for picking up a copy of this book, however it happened to come to you, and for reading it.

When I came up with the idea for this book, I really had no idea the direction it would take. I only knew that I was struggling to balance my personal and professional life, and it was taking its toll on me. I won’t go into detail here because the stories are in the book. But I will say that no matter what I tried, I couldn’t seem to catch up, let alone keep up. And that was in my face-to-face life. Don’t even get me started on how defeated I felt as I watched Instagram stories, participated in Voxer chats, and scrolled through my Twitter feed. The comparison game and the green-eyed monster of envy were weighing on me HEAVY.

The worst part? I felt completely alone. I knew (mentally) that there were other educators in the world that had gone through similar, if not identical, struggles. But it just didn’t FEEL like it because I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it all. Don’t get me wrong. Many of my colleagues, friends, and family could relate to parts of my story, but it was the combination of everything that made it feel like I was drowning.

That’s when I decided that I wanted to put together this book. When I couldn’t #jugglethestruggleEDU anymore, I said, I want to write a book! HA! But isn’t that how these things work? When it feels like you can’t do anything else, that one more thing is actually what brings you back to life. When I needed this the most, when I was feeling completely raw and vulnerable, I reached out to EduMatch Publishing and then to other educators. Putting this book together was exactly what I needed to lift that heavy weight of loneliness off of my shoulders and my heart.

That is what I hope this book does for you. I want you to read the stories, and I hope that you connect with at least one author, if not several authors! Their handles and hashtags are attached to their stories. Find the authors and use the hashtags on social media to share your experiences. Let’s build a community of educators who are leaning on and supporting one another in our struggles. I’m not fooling myself to think that you will identify with all of the stories; we all have our own backgrounds and our own stories that make us unique, that make us who we are. But I hope that in reading about each educator, you find a piece of your story and FEEL like you are NOT alone.

I would also like to extend a very special thank you to everyone at EduMatch Publishing and to each and every author who shared a piece of themselves for this book. THANK YOU!

The idea for this book began in the Fall of 2019. In Spring of 2020, the global pandemic hit, and everything that I had hoped for this book had to be put on pause. We were literally and figuratively isolated, and I can only speak for myself when I say that it didn’t take too long for me to start feeling alone, despite my introverted tendencies. I would have absolutely LOVED for this book to include Pandemic Teaching stories, but the truth was I couldn’t #jugglethestruggleEDU and focus on this book. And if I couldn’t do it, I certainly couldn’t ask or expect anyone else to try that juggle. Any pandemic stories came in the Spring of 2021 when there was a light at the end of the tunnel, when I reached out and asked for more voices. Even then, most of those stories came from authors who spoke about and shared pre-pandemic struggles. I share this added notation to let you know that even if there aren’t the pandemic stories that you need, know that we have all been standing together and struggling together...standing with you and struggling with you. You have never been alone.

Don’t Try This Alone

by Erin Kiger (@EBGTech on Twitter and Instagram)

Hello! My name is Erin Kiger. In this story, I was Erin Giblin. This was my second year teaching, and I was confident that I had all the answers and I could do it all and have a huge impact on my students. I was able to build strong relationships with my students, but I was already starting to get burned out and frustrated as the year went on. I’m lucky that I realized early what I needed to keep me going because that has helped me continue down my professional path to this day.

#allbymyself

How many of you joined the world of education because of the short days and big bucks? Really though, I think the majority of us join the education movement because we want to inspire and support the youth of today as they become the adults of tomorrow, the adults that will change the world! Someone somewhere has been able to say, I was President Obama’s teacher, I was Emily Methangkool’s (brilliant anesthesiologist) teacher, I was that Andrew Kano’s (incredible pilot) teacher, I was Matt Damon’s (do I need to explain) teacher, I was Ellie Griffith’s (still a student and contributing author) teacher, and the list goes on. Who stands out in your mind? Who is that student who causes you to say, I was their teacher! with pride!

However, if you’re anything like me, it didn’t take too long before that passion and that fire in your soul was doused—the reality of being a teacher set in. The creativity, the grand ideas, the hope to change, and the desire to inspire were quickly overrun by lesson plans, grade books, standardized tests, behavior frustrations, administration frustrations, colleague frustrations. And I’ll admit, when I started teaching, there weren’t even a fraction of the things teachers have to do now on my plate.

I remember so clearly, it was only my second year teaching, and I was up until 2 am, on a school night, grading writing assignments. I didn’t hate my life or my job, but I remember looking up and thinking, If this continues, I will hate. this. job. I knew that I did not want to be up until all hours of the night grading papers. That was not going to be inspiring to my students, and it certainly wasn’t inspiring to me. And if I was miserable (which in my world is the same as a lack of sleep), then it wouldn’t be good for my kiddos. Something had to change, but I didn’t even know where to begin.

My mentor teacher during my practicums was a constant source of support for me, both personally and professionally. She had been my brother’s teacher, and I had been in school with her son, so we went way back. I knew that I could talk with her and be completely open without fear of judgment. To this day, I still rely on some of her advice. She told me that an arrow was a teacher’s best friend, and she showed me how she drew an arrow from one piece of her lesson plan to the next day. Of course, this was back in the day when lesson plans were written out by hand in planners specially designed for teachers. Those planners still exist...but I haven’t used one since my 2nd year of teaching. We had computers at that school! Another piece of advice that she gave me that I found invaluable was to pick one evening and stay late at school to do lesson plans. That way, my weekends were free. I think it was that advice that led me to my current beliefs on lesson plans...which is a whole other story that I’m not getting into now. The point is, she knew how important it was to work for her students, but her family was her priority. If she had to sacrifice during the week so that they would have that family time during the weekend, she did what she had to do. And that was what she was trying to help me figure out.

My partner teacher was an incredible teacher! I was amazed by her, and I valued her opinion and her ideas. I expressed my frustrations and my bewilderment. She was empathetic, but I’ll be honest, I don’t remember if she said anything that really helped me. I remember that she was frustrated about some of the same things I was, and also other things that to me didn’t seem like that big of a deal. For example, she was frustrated by all the assemblies that took away from instructional minutes, minutes that she needed to complete the curriculum because if she didn’t finish it, it became homework. She didn’t like giving that much homework, but she felt a duty to expose her students to all the material. The loss of instructional minutes and the need to meet curriculum expectations were a battle she was slowly giving up on, but it still frustrated the heck out of her! At that point in time, that was not something that was bothering me. Looking back now, I realize that she was probably right. What can I say; I was inexperienced and absorbed with my own problems. Anyway, I didn’t find a resolution I was satisfied with when talking to her, so I continued to seek guidance from others.

I went to my assistant principal. She had only recently left her classroom to take the AP position. When we talked, I was asking her about how to fit it all in. I would find myself having what I thought were really good classroom discussions with the kids. I didn’t want to have to limit those if they were valid and on topic, but I was running out of time. She was the one who shared that if during a conversation in Religion (I was at a private religious school), we ended up discussing Social Studies or Science topics, that time could count towards those other subjects. My transitions didn’t need to be a hard break. To this day, I wish I had an easier time transitioning, a smoother jump from one subject to the other….so that it wasn’t a jump at all but was just all-inclusive. Her advice has stuck with me over the years, and it helped me with one of my concerns. But the idea of grading everything every day until the wee hours of the morning was still a nagging voice in my head, along with a few more concerns.

The next person I consulted was a teacher with five years of teaching experience. She felt comfortable in her teaching style, but was always looking for more ways to engage her students. She had this energy about her, and it was contagious! (We’re still friends 15 years later!) I wanted so much to see how she handled everything she had to do and yet was still so excited about work, especially once she started taking master’s degree classes AND was pregnant. She seemed to juggle everything and never break a sweat! I understand that she definitely had a lot going on, and there were some times that she struggled, but at that point, in my mind, it certainly didn’t seem like it. I asked her how she handled it all, considering how she seemed so confident in the fact that she could be creative about how she taught and assessed the kids. She told me the story of how she had come from a very scripted public school and that our school was a breath of fresh air. She had the kids showcase their learning in a variety of creative ways, and then rather than marking right or wrong, she used rubrics to assess what she needed to grade. My mind was blown. She had the kids doing science experiments instead of just reading out of the science book and taking notes. She had them reading about characters and analyzing character traits by tracing their own bodies on butcher paper, then drawing character emotions and thoughts within the body, instead of just writing an essay. These are just two small examples from the list of everything I watched her do from that first year through the rest of our time together at that school.

Slowly but surely, because of these educators with whom I worked, I began to see that what I did in my classroom didn’t have to look like it did when I was a student. Or what I imagined it looked like, because clearly, we all know that what is seen by our students and their families is only a fraction of what happens #behindthecurtain. I didn’t have to be stuck in an old-school model of teaching. I could modernize and be creative, but even then, I knew I couldn’t do all that alone. It wasn’t my personality. I needed collaboration.

By the end of the year, I felt much better than I did at the beginning of the year. I had gotten more creative—engaged the students in educational games, started to integrate technology in innovative ways, and was thinking outside-of-the-box. Looking back, it was not amazing teaching, but I was only a second-year teacher. I still had much to learn. I think the most important part for me was realizing I had control over whether or not I burned out. I realized I did not have to be on my own island as a teacher to understand what good teaching looked like. I am grateful to the many educators who, over the next few years, allowed me to lean on them. I am glad I learned early on that I don’t have to do it all, and I don’t have to do it alone.

Stuff and Things

by Ally Somma (@mrs._somma_squad on Instagram)

Hi folks, my name is Ally Somma, and I’m in the midst of my eleventh year teaching elementary school. I’ve toggled between third and fifth grade, but those zany fifth graders have my heart (and possibly my sense of humor). I hold technology and gifted endorsements, but currently spend my days tricking fifth graders into learning. I teach in a suburban school in one of the largest school districts in the country.

#stuffandthings

My story centers around the themes of compromise, grace, and authenticity.

In my first years in the classroom, I was overzealous about teaching. Those of you that personally know me may be thinking just the first few years? But y’all, I promise I’ve matured and mellowed out. I’ve found my zen (most of the time) and am way more flexible than I used to be. None of my transformations were particularly graceful, and I’ve learned a secret about this so-called teacher balance: it doesn’t exist.

Fresh out of college, I moved to a new city where the only people I knew were other teachers. My roommate was also a fifth-grade teacher, our friends were teachers, and I lived in a very sheltered teacher bubble. I felt grossly underprepared from my teacher courses and spent a majority of my free time trying to stay ahead of my workloads. Unsure of myself, I tried to emulate what the four other teachers in fifth grade were doing. I’d spend hours typing up scripted lesson plans because that’s what I thought my administration wanted, but to be honest, I never looked at them again after I hit that submit button. Following a script verbatim didn’t work for me, but I spent several years trying to force it. I figured if I fully scripted out each lesson, if I prepared the entire week’s PowerPoints (and then smartboard) lessons ahead of time, if I made all the copies at once for the week, then there would be no surprises in the classroom. If I meticulously planned for each and every moment of the week, everything would go perfectly, and I would be an amazing teacher by the end of my second year (if not sooner). Don’t worry; I quickly learned how wrong that arrogant and naive mindset was.

I approached my first few years of teaching with such rigidity that little room was left for relationships. I simultaneously tackled a master’s degree during my first two years in the classroom, which allowed me to justify the imbalance of life. I couldn’t have fun on weekends because I had homework, lesson plans, and every single assignment to grade. Fridays meant test days in all subjects because that’s how every other teacher did it, and the fact that my students may not have been ready for a test weekly didn’t factor into my plans.

I didn’t smile with my first groups of students. I didn’t take their interests into account. I didn’t give them space in the classroom to share about their weekends or families. I spent so much time preparing what I was going to say that I didn’t pause to consider what their responses would be. I didn’t allow my students to have a say in our classroom.

This mindset, unfortunately, stuck with me for the first five years of teaching. The school climate shifted subtly, and I began feeling unhappy with my work environment. This transferred into the way I conducted my classroom, and I realized that not only was I not happy teaching, but my students also weren’t happy to be at school. Fifth grade is far too young to be disillusioned with school and I, unfortunately, was part of the problem. I gave up too much of myself at work without any joy. I spent hours doing things that didn’t really matter to me, or my students, or their families. I wasn’t intentional with my planning and ended up wasting a lot of time, which perpetuated the unhappiness cycle. My life was unbalanced, and everyone was feeling the effects. The burnout was so bad that I began to think that teaching wasn’t for me.

Luckily, this wasn’t the end of my story. I switched schools and cut my commute from over an hour each way to under ten minutes. That move alone granted me hours of my life back each week. It was scary to leave my first school and essentially start over, knowing no one at work. Luckily I landed in a close-knit community, and my grade level teammates were supportive. Plus, I viewed this as a chance to start over professionally. I could shed my unhealthy teaching habits, and no one would know the difference. I gave myself permission to not have lesson plans done for the entire month at once and to not have copies for the entire week ready at 6 am on Monday. I gave myself permission to be more flexible and adaptive to change. As cliche as it may seem, I began working smarter, not harder and planned with my fellow teachers instead of in isolation. Planning time not only became more intentional, but we found ways to integrate content areas together to allow for truer understanding.

This doesn’t mean I was unprepared for teaching, but rather was more in tune with my class. I started giving more formative assessments throughout the week that would determine which concepts my students had mastered and which needed to be retaught. Spending five minutes a day after school shifting through formative assessments meant that if a test was given on Friday, a majority of my students would be ready for it.

I figured out that typing lesson plans at home (or at a restaurant) wasn’t working well for me. At home, there are many glorious distractions: pets, Netflix, a husband, and naps. I would set out to work on tasks, but quickly fall into the multi-tasking mindset: I’d put a show on Netflix for background noise, check social media, get a snack, and then realize that thirty minutes had gone by with nothing work-related to show for it. Hours would be wasted, and then I finally realized that if I just lesson planned at work, with my classroom door shut, then I could accomplish my tasks in about an hour instead of spending all day Sunday multitasking while actually getting nothing productive done.

I also realized that as much as I hate getting up early, I am far more productive in the morning. Instead of staying late, I now go to work early and am able to get more tasks done. I am able to beat traffic, I don’t have to wait for the copiers, and there is no one for me to talk to, which means I can stay focused without being rude to coworkers. I use my planning periods productively (most of the time), but carve out ten minutes before school starts and right after the kids leave to socialize with coworkers. I’m able to build relationships with others while still getting all of my work done.

Before I leave each day, I quickly grade formative assessments and run through what I’m teaching the next day. I leave myself a top 3 list on a post-it on my desk, so when I return in the morning, I immediately know where to focus my attention. My to-do list, like all teachers, will never be fully completed. Instead of stressing, I have learned to prioritize and give each task my full attention. It’s funny how blocking out distractions and fully devoting my mind to one task at a time results in more productivity.

Overall, I paid attention to my work habits and had an honest conversation with myself. I didn’t like spending my weekends working, and it wasn’t fair to my family, friends, or myself. I wasn’t productive after work when lots of coworkers were in the building, so I shifted my hours to when most people aren’t at work yet. As a result, I have my weekends back and very rarely take work home on school nights. It took me years to realize that everything won’t get done because our to-do lists are never-ending, but that’s okay. Sometimes projects aren’t Pinterest perfect or Instagram worthy because done is better than perfect. Sometimes it’s okay to shut your door and plan, even if your coworkers are having a lively conversation in the hallway. It’s okay to not have the entire week’s copies done at once, and it’s okay to use digital resources to find passages instead of always creating things from scratch. No matter how meticulously and carefully you plan, being a teacher means you’re working with children. Children, by nature, can be unpredictable, and teaching doesn’t always go as planned.

Years ago, my grade level took our students to the local science museum on a field trip. This was a culminating experience after spending weeks studying physical science and preparing for standardized testing. That same day, Dr. Douglas Fisher, an educational author, was at our school offering professional development for teachers. I had just finished reading Dr. Fisher and Dr. Frey’s Rigorous Reading for a graduate school course and was thrilled to get to meet with one of the authors. I showed my class the text and shared with them that we had a special visitor on campus that afternoon, so be sure to use their best manners and make him feel welcome.

Our field trip was successful (meaning no one threw up and we didn’t lose any groups), and as we returned to our classroom, I saw Dr. Fisher walking the building with campus administration. I reminded my students of their hallway behaviors, and as we rounded the corner to our classroom, my principal asked the first students in line how the field trip was.

Great, my class said in unison with enthusiastic smiles.

Dr. Fisher, pleased with this excitement, asked the first student in line what she had learned at