Teaching Without Losing Yourself — The Podcast

Teach Well. Go Home. Live Well. Your car is in the driveway. Dinner is on the table. Someone you love is telling you about their day. And you’re still in fourth period. Teachers, teaching will always give you something else to think about. Another lesson, another email, another student you’re worried about. But somewhere along the way, a lot of us started believing that if the work isn’t finished,...

The lesson was landing. They were with you. Then the phone rang. Four minutes later, the lesson was still there, but the feeling was gone. And by the time the bell rang, you had already ended the whole day in your head. Teachers, getting pulled away is part of teaching. It’s not proof that you failed to protect your focus. But a lot of us carry an all-or-nothing rule we’ve never said out loud: if...

You decided what mattered today. You really did. So why are you looking at the same unfinished thing at the end of the day? Teachers, choosing a priority is only the first decision. The school day keeps reopening it. An email shows up looking urgent. A coworker needs a minute. Guilt shows up the moment you close your door. And every time, what you chose has to win all over again. This week, I cont...

Everything Does Not Deserve Equal Access How many things asked for your attention today? Not how many things you got done. How many things asked you to stop, turn, answer, fix, or carry them? Teachers, a lot of what reaches for you during the day is legitimate. Some of it really does need you. But somewhere along the way, everything that asks started getting in. This week, I open our October theme...

I did not record last week's episode. And for a minute, I let that mean more than it should have. That is exactly where we start as we close out September. One hard day. One lesson that falls flat. One tense conversation with a parent. It is so easy to let a single moment outweigh everything else you have already proven. This week, Kim brings the final piece of Stronger Than You Realize toget...

You solved a problem today and did not even stop to notice. You recovered from something that did not go according to plan. You managed your own feelings while still showing up for a student who needed you. You figured something out on the spot, without a plan, without help, and moved right on to the next thing. None of it felt like strength while it was happening. This week, Kim continues Stronge...

Something happened this month that most teachers will never stop to notice. The thing that felt impossible in August is not impossible anymore. The routine that used to take everything out of you barely registers now. And your mind already moved on to whatever feels hard today. This week, Kim opens a new month called Stronger Than You Realize with a simple question that most teachers walk right pa...

  You made a plan for this year. You thought about your routines. You decided what would be permanent and what would be temporary.  Then you actually started living inside it.  Now you can see which routines are working and which ones are not. You can see where time is disappearing. You can see what felt important during planning but is not actually helping.  So what do you do with that informatio...

You planned it all out perfectly. Every hour accounted for. Every moment has something in it.  And then you actually go to work.  A conversation runs longer than expected. A student needs something. An email lands. And suddenly your perfect plan has no room for any of it.  So something gives. And most of the time, what gives is you.  In this episode:   Why a full schedule is not the same as a sust...

  The temporary decisions you made in week one? They're still happening.   You answered an email at night just that one time. You stayed a little later just to get things done. You said yes to something you weren't sure about. All temporary, right? But somewhere between week one and now, temporary became routine.  And here is the thing—you didn't decide that on purpose.  Your founda...

August isn't preparation. It's construction.   You walk back into your building and realize something: you inherited this year. The calendar is locked. The initiatives are decided. But here's the thing—you inherited the system. You didn't inherit your response to it.  So what are you actually building in August? And more importantly—is there room for you in it?  In this episode...

 Preplanning is here. Students are coming back next week. And everything feels equally urgent.  The emails. The meetings. The classroom. The technology. The procedures. The team. The expectations coming from every direction.  Here is what most teachers do — they drop it all in one pile, label the whole thing urgent, and start moving. And by the end of preplanning week they are already depleted bef...

 You made it to July. And if you are honest — school has already found its way back in.  Not through an official meeting. Not through a contract date. Through a text. An errand. A guilty thought on a Tuesday morning while you were just trying to have coffee.  That is what this episode is about.  The pull back to school is quiet. It does not announce itself. It comes through side doors — the group...

July is here. And if you are honest, school has already entered your mind at least once this week.  Not because you planned it. Not because anything official has started. Just a quiet thought. A text. A mental inventory of what your room still needs. And before you realized it, school was in the room.  In this episode we are talking about the mental return — the drift that happens weeks before tea...

  You Are More Than Your Usefulness — Summer Is Where You Remember That.   Four weeks. And this is where June lands.  We named the crash. We named leisure sickness. We named the Calling Trap — the internal voice that tells you caring a lot means sacrificing a lot. And we named the outside version of that same trap — the make summer count pressure that comes for your guilt.  And underneath all of i...

 You made it through week one and week two. You named the crash. You named leisure sickness. You named the Calling Trap — that internal voice that tells you sitting still is falling behind. But here is what I need you to know going into week three. The Calling Trap is not only living inside of you. It is also coming at you from the outside. And it is sneaky. It is coming at you dressed up and look...

Why Sitting Still Feels Wrong — Even in Summer. You made it to summer. The calendar is finally open. There is nowhere to be and nothing due. And yet — something in you will not let you be still. You feel restless on a day with nothing planned. You say yes to something before you have had one full week off. You hear that quiet voice in the back of your mind telling you that a good teacher is alread...

  You Made It. So Why Doesn't It Feel That Way?   The school year is over. You made it. So why doesn't it feel the way you thought it would?  If you are sitting in the first week of summer feeling exhausted, disoriented, or guilty for doing nothing — this episode is for you. What you are feeling is not a sign that something is wrong with you. It is what happens when a body and a mind tha...

Some of you are done with students. Some of you are in workdays. Some of you are still finishing. No matter where you are right now — your body knows this year has been long. This is the final episode of the Waiting to Exhale series. And this week we are talking about the part nobody discusses — what happens when the school year ends on the calendar but never ends inside of you. You carry it into...

 This is your last week with students ,or close to it.  And if you are honest, you are trying to manage this week the same way you managed October. The same expectations. The same energy. The same pressure on yourself to hold everything together.  That is exactly where the weight is coming from.  In this episode of the After the Bells series, we talk about what carrying it too tight looks like in...

You're Not Managing Content Anymore… You're Managing Energy. You planned the lessons. You have the materials. You are ready. So why does it feel harder than ever? In this episode of the After the Bells series, we go one layer deeper into what May is actually asking of teachers right now. The testing pressure has lifted. The instructional heavy lifting is done. But somehow you are more dr...

It's May. The countdowns are on the walls. Students are already mentally checked out. And you still have to show up and do your job like it's October. That tension is real. And it's one of the hardest parts of this time of year that nobody talks about. In this episode, we're naming the contradiction teachers are living in right now — and why feeling off this time of year doesn&...

There is always something left at the end of a teaching day. Always one more email. Always something you meant to fix. Always something you wanted to have ready for tomorrow. And most teachers have learned to just… stay a little longer. Handle a few more things. Push through. But here's what nobody is talking about — the work was never going to feel finished. And waiting for that moment is co...

This month’s theme is Perfection is not required , and this week we’re looking at how that shows up in your day through your time. In Week 1, we talked about going back to things because you don’t want to be wrong.  In Week 2, we talked about finishing something but continuing to add more to make it better. But even if you stop doing both of those, your day is still full. Students still need you....

 You've probably said it — or heard it — more than once: there's not enough time. But part of what's happening isn't the job itself. It's what you've been adding to it. This episode breaks down exactly where that extra time is going and why it feels like the right thing to do in the moment. One small shift this week can start changing that.    We’re not here to fix. W...