Hey there, I’m Tricia –
And the first thing you need to know is…I’m an educator too. I left the corporate world to be a high school teacher (I know, I know – waaaaa?!?!) Yep I did.
Like you, I wake up at the crack of stinking dawn…and no, not to get a workout in – just to get to work. And all that stuff that makes you want to quit? I know about all of that too.
Here’s what I don’t have to tell you about life as an educator, whether you’re a teacher or administrator: It can Wear. You. Out . . . mentally and physically, often leaving you feeling like you have nothing left to give.
but, it doesn’t have to be this way…it really doesn’t!!
Wondering what qualifies me to make this promise?
I’ve been at this for a while. When I started teaching, I was so bothered that students just didn’t seem to care.These teens thought they could just not turn things in. Or, that they could turn assignments in half done just so they could get a passing grade. The struggle was real! I couldn’t figure out if my students didn’t know how to do the work and needed help, or if they were just lazy and didn’t really care. This just wasn’t going to work and I had to fix it, or quit.
I knew this would mean that I would have to change my students mindsets and learned behaviors, and it was tough. After years of working in a broken system, I’d perfected my own and I created a successful step-by-step classroom management process where students were engaged, chose to show up and work hard each day and leave college and/or career ready.
Then, I successfully worked with other secondary teachers and helped them implement strategies so that they could experience the same success with their students and love teaching again.
Then the world shut down. And we all know what happened a year later. CHAOS in schools. No one knew how to act, how to work, how to care, how to behave . . . and I felt like a fraud. The system I spent years on perfecting no longer worked. I just couldn’t handle it. So, I stepped away from every other position I held, shut the door, focused on my students, and started over.
After a year of a lot of adjustments, complete do-overs, honest conversations and feedback, we figured it out.
When I could finally look around again, I saw teachers, students and administrators falling apart around me. Mandates made zero sense and weren’t in the best interest for anyone. And I began to wonder, if it took me, someone who taught 16 years, and everything in me to work through it, how are teachers and students going to survive this?
And that’s when I decided it was time to leave my classroom and help other teachers, students and administrators. Now, I work in classrooms and help teachers thrive again, implement strategies to get their students motivated and work hard again. I help administrators support their teachers where they need it the most, provide strategies to help students be engaged again, and provide professional development that they will actually use.
Whether you’re a teacher or administrator,
I CAN HELP YOU, TOO!!
Students WILL work hard for their teachers and themselves, want to show up to class because they see the value in it, actually enjoy it, choose to be engaged, respect themselves and others and reach the high standards that are set. And, TEACHERS CAN go to work each day to a room they love, work fewer hours and get more done – then put it all aside and have the energy for that beautiful home and time to rest and rejuvenate.
