Coaching for Educators
Renewal, Balance, and Growth
Let's face it. The teaching profession becomes more demanding with each passing year. Many teachers are feeling exhausted, ineffective, and conflicted about their futures.
I have walked in your shoes. My experience as a teacher, both pre-pandemic and during, gives me insight as to what you do each day. I offer a safe and supportive space for you to prioritize your wellbeing.
Do you feel overwhelmed, ineffective, and burnt out?
My process can help you find the needs behind these emotions and move towards fulfillment.
Do you want to fall in love with teaching again?
I can help you remember why you chose this profession to begin with and help you rediscover your passion, even during difficult times.
Do you wish you could teach in a way that is more aligned with your philosophies, but don't know where to begin?
Let's work together to make a plan that is attainable and sustainable.
Does classroom management feel like a full time job?
I have mentored many teachers over the years in developing approaches that cultivate intrinsic motivation in students, taking "management" out of the equation so that you can spend more time on the aspects of teaching you love.
Or perhaps you are feeling the call to do something new, but aren't sure what it might be?
Coaching can help you identify your strengths, passions, and purpose and discover the infinite possibilities before you.
My Teaching Journey
I Have Walked in Your Footsteps
Staying the Course
Forty years is a long time to stay in one profession. Did I ever feel burned out? YES! In fact, there were several times along the way when I was right where you are, worn out and wondering what my next step would be. When I started a family, I grappled with how to be both the mom I wanted to be and the teacher I wanted to be, simultaneously. I struggled with the demands of teaching while living with an untreated autoimmune disease. There were also times in my career when I felt philosophical tension with trends in education or felt the heaviness of a plate too full.
I have found myself unchallenged, discouraged, and overwhelmed at different times, but each time, I was able to find my way through and fall in love with teaching again. When I finally did leave the classroom, it was a grounded decision.
Let's figure out what kind of burnout you feel so that you can find that spark again!
Teaching Remotely
Three months before my last day of teaching, the country was put on lockdown. Overnight, everything I knew about teaching changed. Teaching remotely was exhausting, lonely, and tedious. I was working in a progressive school where we were used to hands on, child driven, interactive project work, and suddenly we were trying to deliver the same experience online. I felt ineffective, isolated, anxious, and disconnected from my students. The worst part was seeing the lights go out of the children's eyes as they struggled to adjust to solitary learning. I had always seen learning as an interactive process, but teaching remotely taught me that the ability to turn to a neighbor and share an insight was essential.
The past few years have been filled with unpredictability and challenge. You may find yourself feeling frustrated and ineffective, exhausted and unmotivated. You may be asking yourself, "Will things ever change? What happened to the job I loved?"
What if there was a way to put yourself first AND find joy in what you once had a passion for? What if putting yourself first could actually benefit your students too? Coaching can help you take care of yourself so that you can find the bandwidth you need to thrive.
Finding a Philosophical Fit
My career has taken me from preschool to elementary and public to private. Each of these experiences has contributed to my image of children, and my definition of best practice.
At times in my career, I was seen as a bit of a maverick, daring to think differently. When my journey finally brought me to The Nueva School, a school for gifted children in California, I knew that I had found my fit. My experience there stretched me and shaped me like no other. It gave me an unequivocal sense of what effective curriculum design looks like. And most importantly, I discovered what kind of environment truly allowed children to remain in love with learning.
If you long for a classroom that values innovation and student ideas, I can help. If you want to spend less time managing and more time in flow, then let's talk. You can do this.
Recapture the joy of teaching and learning.
A New Chapter
Despite having a fulfilling career as a teacher, there came a point where I felt an undeniable pull to do something new. I wasn’t burned out at the time, but there was a sense of wanting to take all that I had learned over the years and use it in a different way. It was scary to start something new after having a career that felt so natural. But taking the leap into coaching has been a welcome challenge. I have learned so much about what I really needed in order to feel fulfilled, and and was surprised by what I discovered!
If you are at a point where you feel that there is something else waiting for you, I can help you gain the clarity you need to identify what it is, and the confidence to pursue it.
