Dear Teacher Who Overcommitted,
There once was a teacher who decided to start a blog. "It would be neat to provide a word of encouragement for teachers each day," she thought. With gusto, she began her 180 day letter writing journey.
One day she wrote to the teacher who made a whoopsie. Another day she wrote to the teacher in car rider line. Some of the messages were sad. Some of them were funny. Many were incoherent.
Around the 100th day, she realized she may have overcommitted. For the first time in nearly seven months, she couldn’t think of a teacher to address.
On that day, she decided maybe it was time to pack up her pen and go home. There was nothing left to say.
Then she realized, that “not having something to say” was ironically worth saying.
Every teacher has overcommitted at some point. Later, we kick ourselves and mumble, “What was I thinking?”
If you haven’t done it yet, you will. I have no idea why we do this to ourselves, but we do it, often, and the craziest part of all is that we are just stubborn enough to see the crazy plan all the way through, even on the days when we’ve got nothing.
All of this to say, I’m going to keep writing, even on days when my throat is a little scratchy and it feels like staying the course is futile. And here's why:
Packing up my pen might send the message that it’s okay to pack up your pen too, and I can't have that on my shoulders.
Bottom line, if you're still hanging in there, then I am too, and hanging in there together is how we will gain the strength to stay committed.
But can we also make a pact that on the 180th day of school, we will toss the pen out the window, grab a pair of sunglasses, tuck a striped beach towel in a canvas tote, and blare Jimmy Buffett as we head to the beach?
-CDB