When It's Ok to Pause: The Power of Rest for Teachers

WEBVTT

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I'm AJ Bianco from Podcast PD, part of the Education

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Podcast Network, just like the show you're listening

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to now. Shows in the network are individually

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owned and opinions expressed may not reflect

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others. Find other interesting education podcasts

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at edupodcastnetwork .com. We explore all things

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teacher. And I like to reach out to private schools,

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home schools, Sunday schools, public school,

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teachers, anybody that is teaching, I am here

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for you. I want to help you today. But I need

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to be completely transparent. I missed last week.

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And so if you're joining me this week, thank

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you. And I'm so sorry to have left you, but I

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was really ill last week. And one of the things

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that I want to do is, I'm the learning curve

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here, but I would like to record a few podcasts

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ahead to... So in case this happens again, I

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have something to just upload. But yeah, I got

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really sick. I wasn't feeling well. And I was

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down all weekend, even took a day off of school.

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And you know what? that guilty teacher feeling

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started creeping in. We are in May, and as a

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teacher, you know if you're in the classroom,

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May is big, big testing time. We do our spring

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testing in May. We started Monday, and I was

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so sick I could not come in, and no one can give

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that test. I think... Of course, our data coach

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and all those could give it, but it was the first

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day. So I had to put in the subplans, didn't

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feel like doing subplans, but I had to do subplans

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and make sure to put in there that no one is

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to do any kind of testing because I needed to

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be there to administer it. Now, had I been sick

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longer, I would have probably reached out to

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get some help in giving that test, but I was

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able to pull it together and go back Tuesday.

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Very, very exhausted, very tired, but the thing

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I want to address today is when you're sick,

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it's okay to rest. When you are sick, it is okay

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to take time off. That's easier said than done.

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One of the things that has helped me realize

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that I need to take the days that I have because

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If I don't I'm not going to get better and I

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got I you got to realize I got to realize I'm

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a mom I do have an adult son with special needs.

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I have another adult child that, you know, I'm

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still a mama too. She doesn't need me as far

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as physical as much, but I do have to be there

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for my children. And even as a mom, you know,

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you're a mama no matter how... How old they get

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they still need their mama and so by the way

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happy Mother's Day today to you And I want to

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give a shout out to those of you that didn't

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birth Children happy Mother's Day to you too

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because I know you are a caregiver Somewhere

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in your life, and you're taking care of people

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in your life, and you are taking care of your

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parents You might be taking care of your neighbors

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kids your nieces and your nephews You still give

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and you deserve that shout out just like a mother

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that may have given birth so If you've lost your

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mother today, I want to Give you prayers and

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hugs to you it everybody misses their mama your

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mama means so much to you and my mama means so

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much to me too and maybe one day I'll tell my

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story but I have I have what I call village mamas

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I have several mamas that have raised me so it's

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it's just happy Mother's Day to you but I want

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to talk to you today about the power of rest

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the power of rest there's an unspoken weight

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that many teachers carry including me when I

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first started teaching It didn't matter if I

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was sick. I couldn't hardly raise my head I was

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at work because it felt to me harder to Get the

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sub plans together, but now I'm like I'm going

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to do the sub plans and I'm going to Push through

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the subplains even if it takes me an hour or

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two because that I'm gonna rest the rest of the

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day But if you go in you really are working that

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full six seven hour day And you're not your best

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and so you're not give you're not able to give

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your best and it's okay No judgment here because

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listen. I did it. I've done it before and I'm

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not saying I won't do it again because I Probably

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maybe should have also taken Tuesday off this

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week, but that guilt just pushed me into going.

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But we have that pressure to keep going no matter

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what. We do that as mamas too. We have to show

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up. We have to push through. We smile for the

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kids. We get those plans ready. We stay late

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if needed. We say yes when we're already running

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on empty. Does that sound familiar to you? Because

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it's my life. It's what I do. I have a hard time

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shutting down. I have a hard time saying no.

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I have a hard time saying I'm gonna rest. And

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the older I get, I have decided, and you probably

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hear it in my voice a little bit tonight, just

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that I've been ill. But I've decided I've got

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to, because if I don't, I'm not gonna be able

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to come back and Do my best I was listening to

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a podcast this morning as you know you've listened

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to me anytime at all I am a podcast Junkie I

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just love to listen a podcast and I was listening

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to one Jay Shetty and he was talking about I

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guess if you take a rest you Have 40 % Productivity

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increase if you actually rest when you need to

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um instead of pushing through But he was talking

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about that guilt as well and I had this typed

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up last week so and then it came on and I thought

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you know that's Providence the Lord is speaking

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to me and validating what I'm feeling because

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I had already decided last week when I couldn't

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do my I actually was going to try to do it sick

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and I actually got it all typed up and ready

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to go and I just couldn't bring myself to come

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into my podcast room and turn on the mics and

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get going I went to sleep instead. But what happens

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when your body or your mind quietly begins to

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wave the white flag? In this episode of the Education

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Connection, we're going to slow down. We're pressing

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pause and we're talking honestly about the struggle

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teachers and mamas face when we need to rest.

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And I don't want to leave you daddies out either.

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You daddies do it too. But we feel like we can't.

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We feel like the world's not going to go on.

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I had a dear principle a few years ago, because

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when I first started teaching, guys, I'm not

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kidding, I was not playing around. I would stay

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till 9, 10 o 'clock at night getting my things

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ready to go for the next day. And everything

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had to be in place. The crayons had to be in

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place. I had to have my lesson plans for every

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single subject ready to go. And I still like

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to have all that done. I've gotten more organized

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to be able to do that. But when I first started,

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I wasn't organized enough to understand and how

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to get it all together. So I just stayed and

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got it all together. So one evening, I was talking

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to my principal, and he said, you know what?

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He said, you need to go home at night. Because

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what we had to do was Tag in with our little

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our teacher tag You know I'm talking about the

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little fob that you do and it would log when

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you would come in and log And they would get

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a copy of that and so he had seen that he said

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were you here at ten o 'clock last night? I said

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yes I said I had to get everything together for

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today, and he said you need to go home earlier.

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He said your family needs you and I kind of paused

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and just stared at him a little bit and he said

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I'm he said if something were to happen to you

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he said the school is gonna go on and he said

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I'm not saying that to hurt your feelings he

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said but it's literally if something happened

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to you the school your job is gonna go on they're

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gonna replace you he say that he said I say that

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as a principal because it's the same for me if

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I don't come back if something happens to me

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They they'll go on they're gonna hire somebody

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else and he said it's the same for you They're

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gonna go on and that kind of stung a little bit

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because we feel like we're irreplaceable We feel

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like we're the best we feel like no one can do

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it better than us We feel like no one can do

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it besides us. Like there's no one gonna be able

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to step in and do what we do and I just kind

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of staring at him. He said but if something happens

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to you Your family will not go on their world

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will stop. He said, and if you continue to push

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like this, you're gonna become ill, and you're

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not gonna be as effective as what you were in

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the classroom, but then your family, they need

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you. He said, go home. And I... kind of feel

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like crying. I didn't cry in his face but boy

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that really touched my heart and that has resonated

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with me over the years many times when I'm start

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pushing the six to seven o 'clock time or now

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even back to five six o 'clock time I think about

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what he said and wherever I'm at whatever I'm

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doing if I don't have it done I'm going to stack

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it up I call it crisscross applesauce it's what

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I have the kids say when they sit down crisscross

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applesauce but I crisscross applesauce my work

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on my desk so that I can find it in the morning

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crisscross applesauce my papers shuffle them

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to a nice little corner and wipe my desk down

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and I walk out for the day and so I've learned

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over the years to do that you need to rest And

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you think they need me, I'm just gonna push through.

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I can do it, I can go, I can keep going. And

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that internal dialogue is so common, is so heavy.

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The truth is, many of us were trained to believe

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that needing rest is a weakness. Go back to your

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childhood. How did you grow up? How did your

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parents feel about rest, where they were. workaholics,

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that they work hard. We all come from a stock

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of hard -working families, and so we feel like

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if we rest, it's laziness. We're not measuring

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up. We gotta push through the pain. We're not

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allowed to rest, but in fact, you need to. Especially

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if you get sick, you've just gotta stop. And

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you've got to give yourself that permission,

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that inner dialogue. You've got to say it's OK

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to rest. Resting is not giving up. It's investing

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in your longevity and your students and your

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family's long -term success. When we deny ourselves

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recovery, we don't just delay healing. we risk

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long -term consequences, physical exhaustion,

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emotional burnout, resentment, and even sometimes

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serious health setbacks. So that doesn't help

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anyone, not your students, not your coworkers

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or your family. And listen, I've been guilty

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of playing the game of I stay at work and so

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therefore I am doing a good job. I do not want

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to judge anybody else ever again for not staying.

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When it's time to go, now I know it's hard to

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just up and run the minute, because I can't walk

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out the door right at the 3 .30 is when we can

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leave. I can't do that every day. But there are

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days I do. And there are days you should too.

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There are days you need to just. get it and get

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it go. If you need to take something home, but

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I really try not to even do that anymore. If

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it cannot be done at school before four o 'clock,

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I really try to leave. Four o 'clock is kind

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of like my time to go. Like I got to go. And

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yes, I do push at four o 'clock. I'm looking

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up. I'm going to go down and get one more copy

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or whatever. So it's not a hard and fast walk

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out for me, but I really do try to start thinking

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about it and wrapping it up around four. 430

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at the latest. So I want to tell you, I want

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to encourage you if you're home today, if you're

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sick, oh, one time I broke my foot, you guys,

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and I was down and I went to work. I did have

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to miss a couple of days, but man, that guilt.

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If you're down, it's okay. Curl up on the couch.

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If you're wondering whether you're doing the

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right thing by taking a sick day, Yes, you are.

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Here's your truth. You have permission to rest.

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You're still a good teacher, a good mom. Even

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when you take time off, your classroom is gonna

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survive. Guess what? They will go on. Even if

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you get sick and you can't go back, it's gonna

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go on. It's gonna be okay, but you need to take

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care of you, because you may not go on if you

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don't take care of you. You don't need to explain

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or justify why you're taking care of yourself

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of course to your administrator You might want

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to let them know that you are sick and that you

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might need some doctor care But let's normalize

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teacher wellness Let's break this cycle that

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glorifies burnout and praises over work. Like

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I said, I've been that teacher like, oh, like

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I work, you know, five, six, seven o 'clock and

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glorified that and even felt a little, I don't

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know, I can't think of the word, but just a little

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bit like satisfied that I had worked a little

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bit longer. It's create a culture where educators

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can model self -care without guilt. You're not

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just a teacher, you are a human. being with needs

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that God has created and you need to take care

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of what God has created. He has put that in you

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and He's given you what you need. Take advantage

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of it. Quote your scriptures, say your self affirmations,

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take care of your mental health. That whole person

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deserves care. It deserves compassion and recovery.

00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:14.879
So take the time. Drink the tea or coffee. I

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love coffee. Cancel what can wait and heal fully.

00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:22.039
And listen, I'm preaching to myself. I'm preaching

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to myself tonight. Your school, your class is

00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:29.799
going to be there when you're ready. they're

00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:31.779
going to be better for it. I'm not saying take

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a month off because you've got a cold for a week.

00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:37.580
I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying if you

00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:39.799
have a cold for a week, take the few days off

00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.799
that you need until you feel like you can get

00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.279
up and go again. And don't feel bad about it.

00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:47.779
Don't push through. Don't blow your nose through.

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Go take care of yourself. Take the medicine you

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need. Take the rest you need. Go to bed that

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you need. So I just want to encourage you tonight.

00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:05.220
God is for you. He is not against you lean into

00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:12.140
him Rest into him Quote the scriptures Take the

00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:18.019
time you need Soak up his love Do your morning

00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:22.359
devotions that help you set off on your way and

00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:26.559
have a very blessed week God bless